Dino Ninja
by DemonicAngelGREED
Summary: After defeating Lothor Dustin leaves the academy and meets a stranger by the name of Tommy. Deciding to leave Blue Bay with his new friend Dustin's life is changed, bringing him back into the world of the power rangers. Slash Multi-parings.
1. New Friends Found

**Right...well i really have no idea where this came from to be honest. I was just watching Ninja Storm and just thought 'What if Dustin was made a ranger again' and then i started writing and i created this. This is set a month and ahlf after the finale of Ninja Storm. **

**Okay a bit of a warning since i need to: this is a Slash story: it will have Hunter/Dustin, Trent/Conner and Cam/Shane also a bit of one sided Tommy/Adam but not till way later. There will be mentions of past rangers littered throughout the fic so keep your eyes peeled. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Power rangers: if i did then Slash would be a comon canon occurance. **

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 1<strong>_

Normally when a person becomes a master at any type of martial arts the next step for that person is normally to become a sensei so that they can teach the next generation what they learnt. When a person is a Power ranger and has to let go of that power they try to find a replacement in their lives for that rush that excitement and being the head Earth Sensei with his best friends and ex-teammates always by his sides teaching the mastery of their own element is the perfect way to do this...or so Dustin thought.

A month and a half...that is how long it had taken Dustin to become bored and lost in his position as Sensei Dustin. It wasn't a bad job he just didn't like it. He didn't feel like it was for him, he wasn't Shane who could embody Sensei like a flick of a switch and teach his air students with the strength of the past red rangers. He wasn't like Tori who taught her classes with the calmness and patience of the most experienced masters. He wasn't like Hunter who could teach his classes in a way that commanded his students to listen by just speaking...he just wasn't like that.

He was Dustin, the earth ninja who loved Motorcross, he was the one all the students came too when they needed someone to speak to. He gave advice to the students who found their classes hard and thought they were going to fail, he didn't actually enjoy teaching and it reflected in his students and lately he had been passing them off to the other earth masters who actually were eager to take them on.

He didn't want to seem ungrateful because he loved this chance at furthering himself as a ninja it was just that he had no lust to be a sensei which was why he was going to talk to his sensei and try to figure out what he was doing, that was if he could get away from Cam who seemed adamant to talk to him.

"Dustin stop!" the ex-green ranger said as he followed him through the wind academy grounds.

Groaning as the samurai continued to follow him Dustin used his connection to the earth to create a earth wall between the two of them, he didn't want to speak to his fellow ranger, he just wanted to talk to Sensei and then leave, it was the only day he didn't have classes or work and he wanted to make the most of it and talking to Cam was not something he wanted to do.

It wasn't that he didn't like the tech genius it was more the fact that Cam seemed to think that because he had been openly gay since he was twelve and had known Shane his whole life that he would have the best advice about how he should approach the air master to initiate a relationship together-not something he was comfortable with not when he had his own relationship problems to deal with-or lack of.

"Good morning Sensei Dustin" a group of Water ninja's greeted him as he passed him and he nodded politely back and grinned at the young blonde in the front making the young fifteen year old blush bright red.

That was something that had startled him slightly when he'd become a sensei and turned nineteen, it was like someone had flicked a switch and he was suddenly someone worth dating and a lot of the students he dealt with had developed crushes on him. They didn't act on it-thank god-but it was still strange to find that the young ninja's he was in charge of found him attractive enough to want to get a relationship with.

Sure he'd dated before hell he wasn't a virgin and he was pretty free in his sexuality but ever since becoming a ranger he had changed, he felt more responsible to set a good example and he tried not to do things like date kids four years younger than him. Laughing to himself Dustin continued to walk through the ninja school and then froze when he saw a ticked off Cam waiting for him as he rounded the corner.

Dammit Cam lived at the academy didn't he? "Ah...hi Cam what's up?" he asked trying to plead ignorance, maybe he could bluff his way through this confrontation, I mean he was the airhead

"Dustin I didn't particularly like scaling your dirt wall" Cam said calmly and then crossed his arms giving him a hard stare as he arched an eyebrow "Explain" he ordered.

The earth ninja sighed and motioned for them to go into the empty class room beside them-gotta love those sliding doors-"Come on we'll talk in here" he said softly and ran a hand through his hair. Cam entered and when they were seated happily Dustin sighed "Okay dude this is like really strange for me but what do you need to know?"

The Samurai gave him a small pitying glance before he pushed his glasses back up his nose "Does talking about this really make you uncomfortable Dustin?" Cam asked quietly.

The truth was, thanks to growing up on the wind academy grounds he hadn't gotten many friends and when he had met the ex-rangers he hadn't really thought he would be friends but then they'd had to stop Lothor together and they'd bonded-he actually bonded with Dustin the most. They as a team had become extremely close and he had began to think of them as family that is until he began to get more than family acceptable feelings for one red ranger and now he was totally confused.

Dustin gave Cam a small smile and shook his head when he forgot his place and sighed "its okay dude. You need help and I'm happy to give you it" he said giving the ex-green ranger a warm smile.

When the two of them had worked on the Tsunami Cycles together the two for them had become very close to the point where Cam had become like a brother to Dustin and he began to spend more time in Ninja Ops. Cam was also the first one he told about his extra classes he'd been taking-something the genius was truly proud of.

Shooting the earth ninja a warm smile Cam nodded thankfully: he really did need his friend's help he didn't really have anyone else to talk to. "Thanks' Dustin" he said softly fiddling with his hands in a gesture only his father and Dustin knew meant that he was nervous.

"Come on Cam...Spill" Dustin said softly and crossed his legs underneath him as he waited for Cam to tell him what was wrong patiently.

"Well how do I you know...how do I know if he likes me back" Cam asked nervously "I mean I can't just go up and say 'Hi Shane I really like you, have for a while want to go out on a date' can I?" he said letting out a hysterical laugh.

Dustin arched and eyebrow and grinned at the nervous genius "Why not?"

The green ranger looked at Dustin in total shock and confusion, what did he mean 'why not. "Um I don't want to be embarrassed do I" he spluttered giving his friend a hard and long look "That was a very stupid question"

This time Dustin did laugh he couldn't help it; Cam was just too funny "Dude listen to me. Shane likes you, I can tell just ask him out" he said shrugging "And if he rejects you just do what I did the first time that happened to me"

"Oh and what did you do?" the Samurai asked curiously

The earth master grinned and gave his friend a wink "Went out got drunk and made out with the hottest guy I could find"

Cam gaped openly at the earth ninja, he would never do that number one because he'd only just found out he was gay and secondarily he just didn't have Dustin's confidence or his charming exotic looks. Despite the fact that he liked Shane and thought he was handsome Cam wasn't an idiot, he knew Dustin was gorgeous: any one with eyes could see that. He had a good mix of Brazilian from his father and Texas from his mother making him have the beautiful bronze skin he was famous for and his brown locks just looked too soft and his eyes sparked with a light that made him so approachable yes Dustin Brooks was one handsome ninja.

"Dustin!" he gasped "I can't do that!"

Dustin pointed at his friends and made an ah-ha noise making Cam blink owlishly "See that is our problem" Dustin said in a matter of fact voice.

"Okay" Cam said in confusion "And what is my problem again?" he really was confused weren't they talking about him kissing some random guy...when the heck did they get onto him having problems, sometimes he really didn't understand his motorcross obsessed friend at all-now was one of those time.

Shaking his head and giving Cam a bright grin Dustin clapped him on the shoulder "You got no confidence" He explain and then stood up making Cam stare up at him in shock "When it comes to relationships you are kinda shy"

"No I'm not!" Cam protested standing up to face his friend who just arched an eyebrow unbelieving "What I'm not"

"Really" Dustin drawled and then grinned when Cam nodded "So you've kissed a guy before, and not just a peak on the lips but a real kiss?" he asked crossing his arms across his chest as he oozed confidence.

Cam blushed bright red as he realised just what Dustin was getting at, "Well...no" he said slowly, sure he's thought about it but who would want to kiss him, he was Cam the Sensei's son he was 'off limits' to everyone and it wasn't like he got out very much.

Dustin took pity on his friend and then grinned as a idea popped into his head "Cam how much do you trust me?" he asked as he mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do.

"With my life why?" Cam asked once again confused at the change of topic what was Dustin going on about now.

"Good" Dustin whispered and stepped forward so that they were centimetres away from each other making cam flush bright red again "Because you gotta trust me now"

Cam nodded and Dustin gave him a soft smile before he snaked his hands up behind Cam's head to rest on his neck and pulled him into a hot fierce kiss full of teeth and tongue. The samurai groaned into the kiss and wrapped his arms around Dustin's waist so he didn't lose his balance, dear god why didn't he do this before? He felt Dustin grin into the kiss and was about to pull back and say something when the earth ninja did this strange thing with his tongue that had him becoming a shuddering puddle.

A moment later Dustin pulled back and gazed into Cam's lust hazy eyes "And that my dear friend is a real kiss" he said taking a step back.

"Wha?" Cam said shaking his head, never before did he think he would do that with Dustin, sure he didn't like Dustin that way-thought he was attractive sure-but never in a million years would he have thought to make out with Dustin like he just did.

"Just do that with Shane and he'll follow you around like a lost puppy" Dustin said giving his friend a wink that had him flushing once again.

"Thanks Dustin" Cam muttered as they walked from the class room together "That was...interesting"

Dustin smiled at his friend and put a hand on Cam's shoulder "Cam listen to me. Don't think about the kiss that hard okay" he said making the samurai look at him nervously "And anyway I made out with Shane when we were fifteen"

Cam laughed and shook his head why was he not surprised; of course Dustin would have made out with the air ninja it was only proper: they had been friends for a long time hadn't they? Suddenly everything with Shane didn't seem so scary and when he looked back up at Dustin he just gave the Earth ninja a bright smile.

"Thank you Dustin I think I'll take your advice" He said making Dustin grin and give him a wink.

"Good luck"

The samurai smiled and nodded before he walked off leaving Dustin alone in the hallway and able to go back to his original mission. Taking a calming breath he started down the opposite direction of the hallway until he was standing in front of his Sensei's office, and he began to think about everything he had to say, having the talk with Cam had set his own emotions straight he no longer need to talk about what he needed, he knew what he was going to do he just had to pluck up the courage and confidence and say what he needed to say.

"Dustin will you be entering or will you be standing outside my office all day?" Sensei's voice rang out startling the earth ninja from his inner musings. "Because if you're not coming in I'd rather you stand slightly to the left of my office so you don't block the door"

Chuckling to himself Dustin entered the warm office and gave his Sensei a smile, he always like his sensei he had a good sense of humour-once you found it that was. "Caught me" he said before sitting down opposite the elder ninja.

"That I did" Sensei said smiling at his newest earth master "Now what is on your mine young Earth child?"

Dustin swallowed, he loved that name, it made him feel just that little more connected to his element and it was almost like an affectionate term coming from the grand master. "I wish to speak to you about my Sensei position" he said nervously.

"Yes what is it?"

Looking down at his hands Dustin knew he had to get this over with quickly and took a deep breath hoping it would give him to courage to do what he needed to "I wish to leave my teaching position" he said seriously "I do not believe that I should be teaching. Have no love of teaching and I more often than not spend my time giving my students advice then actually teaching them anything"

"I understand" Sensei said sadly "You are not a Sensei; I should have seen this coming" he sighed and looked into Dustin's eyes "You are a great ninja Dustin and I thought that by teaching by Tori and Shane's sides you would learn to love teaching but I was wrong, watching you this last week has shown me that your destiny lies beyond this academy"

Dustin smiled at Sensei and made the wind academy sign of respect "Thank you Sensei" he said as his voice suddenly choked up "Not just for letting me leave but...for everything it's been an honour" he said standing up to bow to his sensei.

"Ah young Dustin it is I who have been honoured to have you as my student-despite your bumpy beginning" he said giving his earth ninja a wink.

Giving his sensei a big grin Dustin left the office and took a deep breath as the weight that he'd been carrying around since becoming a sensei himself lifted off him. Looking down at his watch his eyes widened when he saw the time, he had an assignment due in two days and he wasn't even close to finished. "Shit!" he whispered and disappeared in a bright yellow streak.

Appearing in his bedroom Dustin quickly changed from his sensei outfit and his comfortable black shirt and sleeveless yellow zip up hoodie and blue jeans before he pulled out his course book and notebook. The assignment wouldn't take him long especially because of the topic so he decided to do it out in the empty living room so that he could listen to some music while he worked.

When he entered the sitting room he felt a big grin find its way on his face when he saw the various text books and his sleeping Laptop scattered around the room, he didn't really need all of them but It was like when he first got involved in motorcross once he started reading up on it he just couldn't stop and so he had gone out and got all the different books he could. Putting his things on the couch he walked over to the stereo and selected his mix CD before he seated himself to begin work.

A few hours later after he had finished the hardest part of the assignment and was just putting the finishing touches on essay he heard an loud and insistent pounding on his door. Frowning in the direction of the front door Dustin put the laptop on the coffee table in front of him and walked over to the door, he had no idea who would be visiting him at one in the afternoon, Tori would have finished her final class of the day only moments ago and Shane was probably making out with Cam at that moment, Blake was away on tour and Hunter...well the Crimson ninja always seemed busy.

Taking a quick peek through the peep hole Dustin felt his heart stop when he saw Hunter standing outside his door looking livid. Unlocking the door he opened the door carefully and gave his friend and big smile "Hi there Hunter" he said happily.

His joy at seeing Hunter wasn't even faked, he liked being around the brooding ninja, he liked the fact that out of all the others-minus Blake because he so did not count-it was him who was able to get the elder Bradley brother out of his shell and was the first real friend of the crimson ninja. He hadn't told anyone and kept it hidden behind his actions with the various other guys he flirted with and made out with but to him Hunter was the perfect guy, and he was pretty much in love with him even if the object of his affections didn't know.

But despite his happy greeting the crimson ninja just continued to glare at him which made him slightly nervous, he had only seen Hunter this mad when he had faced Lothor and butted heads with Shane, he'd never been on the receiving end of such an angry look and to make matters worse he had no idea what he'd done to anger the other so much that is until Hunter finally spoke.

"You quit being a Sensei?"

Groaning in disbelief Dustin moved away from the door giving Hunter the silent invitation to enter, "Really Dustin what the hell!" Hunter continued as he followed the earth ninja into the house closing the door behind him-he may be angry but he still has some manners.

"It was my choice" Dustin said in an annoyed voice and turned to face Hunter who he realised for the first time was still garbed in his own ninja gear-probably had streaked right over here once he'd found about him quitting.

Hunter glared at him and crossed his arms making him look just that little bit more intimidating to the eye "Yeah I get that" he said sarcastically "What I want to know is why?"

"Huh?" Dustin said as his air headedness made itself shown for the first time in awhile.

The crimson ninja groaned frustrated and ran his hands through his hair in frustration "I mean seriously Dust. You and I are best friends and this totally came out of left field" he said "You never said anything to anyone you didn't say anything to me" he said adding the last part in a soft whisper.

Dustin sighed and leant against the wall behind him as he realised what was going on, Hunter probably had the right to be mad. Since he had met Hunter at the race track the previous year the two of them had been pretty inseparable and had told each other almost everything, when his parents had died earlier that year Hunter had been the one he'd run to for comfort and the fact Dustin had gone through this and quit without telling the crimson ninja anything...it must have hurt.

"It's complicated" he said after a moment moving past Hunter and towards the sitting room, he did have an essay to finish after all.

But before he could go too far Hunter's hand shot out and caught him by the wrist halting his movement "Then explain it to me Dustin...please I need to understand"

Dustin grit his teeth and then spun around to look deep into Hunter's blue eyes with his own amber ones "I can't talk to you all the time Hunter" he said softly "We aren't rangers anymore I need to grow up even if it's just a little" he pulled away and ran into the sitting room so that Hunter couldn't see the tears coming to his eyes.

"Dustin!" Hunter shouted after him and his footsteps followed him to the hall, "What does that even mean"

The earth ninja took a deep breath and turned to face his friend who was standing in the door way staring around him in shock "I never wanted to be a sensei" he admitted and picked up one of his shorter text books "and I've had a lot to deal with"

Hunter walked in and took the book from Dustin's hands and swallowed when he saw the title splashed across the front "Palaeontology: Raptor Species guide to behaviour and evolution theories" he read and then looked up at Dustin with confusion evident in his features "Dustin what is all of this?" he asked motioning all around him.

"I've been going to collage since before the ranger situation" Dustin said softly taking the book from Hunter's hands "I'm studying Palaeontology"

Hunter sat down and put his head in his hands and Dustin hugged himself as the guilt of his secrets hit him "Hunter I'm not you or Tori or Shane: I'm not a Sensei I was never supposed to be a sensei" he said softly and looked down when he finally said those words to another person besides his own Sensei the words he'd kept inside for so long.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Hunter asked his voice cracking as he fought to kept his tears down "I would have accepted all of this" he said motioning around him "I would have helped you adjust helped you deal"

Dustin bent down in front of Hunter and took his hands in his own giving him a sad smile "That's why I didn't tell you Hunter" he said making the Crimson ninja stare at him in shock "I didn't want to adjust, I didn't want to deal I just didn't want to be a sensei" he admitted "I just want to be me, I want to be Dustin"

When Dustin looked up at Hunter and saw the sad acceptance in his eyes "I just wish you would have told me" Hunter whispered sadly "I didn't really want to find out you'd quit from turning up at the academy and being told by Sensei"

Giving Hunter a warm smile Dustin nodded and then took a big breath "How about I make it up to you?" he asked making Hunter give him a hopeful smile "How about I tell you everything...over coffee"

The crimson ninja smiled for the first time since coming over and nodded "Yeah I'd like that" he whispered and Dustin didn't know if it was his hopeful imagination but he swore he felt Hunter squeeze his hands just a little tighter.

After spending the rest of the afternoon with Hunter just talking about where his love of dinosaurs had come from and how he'd gotten into his major Dustin found himself wandering down the beach to clear his mind thinking about everything that had changed in the last few hours. He was no longer a sensei at the academy, Hunter now knew about his collage life, and he only just realised how far he and the boy he was pretty sure he loved had drifted apart since they ended being rangers.

It was a little scary to know that his whole life was being so easily changed in a few hours; he had yet to tell everyone that by choosing his major he was required to go on digs every semester starting this year. He had told Hunter and he had one lined up that he was sure the crimson ninja would be accompanying him on but he couldn't bear to tell him about the fact he would need to move later on down the track to somewhere he could do a research project after all he had only just gotten the crimson ninja back.

Dustin was so caught up in his own thoughts and emotions that he almost didn't spot the limp drenched body lying face down in the sand until he'd almost passed it. Gasping in alarm he ran to the man's side and pushed him onto his back and leant over to see if he was breathing, when he felt the steady breath against his ear he let out a relieved breath and looked down into the face below him.

The man looked to be in his twenties, he was handsome with black spiky hair and a earring in one of his ears the man could pass for being younger than he was-that was is he was right about his age-but despite his looks there was something Dustin found about this man that made him give him is respect and he hadn't even met the man. Knowing he couldn't leave the man here on the beach unconscious without any idea how long it'd be before he woke up Dustin sighed irritated when he noticed he was alone and then looked back at the unconscious body below him.

"You should feel damn lucky I'm doing this" he said before he was pulling the body up onto his back so that he was giving the man a piggy back.

When he took his first step Dustin thanked the lords for his earth ninja strength because the man was a lot heavier than he looked-although it was probably muscle and bone-the guy almost made him falter. Almost being the word because Dustin was able to centre himself into the earth and let his muscles become filled with the strength being a ninja of the earth gave him. Beginning the trek towards his house Dustin couldn't stop the fear the clutched him as he felt just how cold the man was-he had to get him out of his wet clothes and quickly.

Reaching his front door he laid the man on the couch he had on the front porch and opened his door before retrieving the man and moving him inside and into the sitting room where he quickly moved his collage work to the table to he could lay the man down without hurting him and rushed to get him some hot tea knowing it would help. When the man was lying down it was like a switch was flicked as he groaned as if in pain and sluggishly opened his eyes.

"Where am I?" He groaned as his head lolled to the side as he saw he was in a house and not on the beach where he had passed out face first on the sand.

Dustin stepped into his line of sight and offered him the tea with a slight smile "Your in my home" he said helping the man into a sitting position so he could drink his tea with ease. "I found you on the beach and knew I couldn't leave you there so I bought you here" he said shrugging.

The man gave him a kind smile that Dustin felt himself mirroring-seriously who was this man "Thank you not many people would have the heart to do something like that. I'm happy it was you who found me" he said sitting the cup down and shivering slightly because his wet sandy clothes.

"Oh right wait here" Dustin said and rushed into the storage room and got a bunch of his father's clothes before rushing back into the living room where the man seemed to be reading his essay in interest "Here I got you some on my dad's old clothes" he said startling the man into looking away from his work.

Glancing at the clothes into his hands the man took them happily and Dustin gave him a relieved smile. Smiling back Dustin showed him where he could change before returning to his essay and finishing the final few sentences off with needed to re-read his work as he knew exactly what he was going to write-the best thing about loving his major it was easy to complete his assignments.

When the man returned and sat next to him to finish his tea he went into the bathroom and picked up the man's wet clothes and threw them in the wash so that they'd be clean for the morning. Walking back into the living room he once again found the stranger reading his finished assignments making noises of agreement and even surprise. It was shocking for someone he'd never met to take such an interest in his work.

"You like dinosaurs or something?" he asked coming to sit next to him "Because that's twice I've seen you reading my work"

The man looked at the laptop and then back at him and gave him a shocked smile "You wrote this?" he asked and then held his hands out to him when he nodded "Well to a fellow palaeontologist I'd like to introduce myself"

Dustin blushed and shook his head "I'm still in collage" he muttered softly and the stranger shock his head.

"Doesn't matter to me this is amazing and trust me I would know had to sit the same course when I was your age" he said motioning to his laptop. "So what's your name kid?"

Grinning happily as he met another dino obsessed person Dustin pulled himself straighter "I'm Dustin Brooks"

"Well Dustin Brooks my little saviour" The man said giving him a smile that had Dustin laughing "My name is Tommy Oliver"

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><p><strong>Read and Review please<strong>


	2. Dearest Hunter

**Thank you to all who reviewed, alerted and faved this story. To be honest i worte this on a whim but you ahve spoken and here is chapt 2...right well this should clear a few things up: maybe. Any way fair warning anyone who loves Hunter/ustin be warned tissues may be needed near the end. **

**Right i am purposing a challenge to all readers of this fic: i have chosen Dustin's colour and whoever guesses it correctly can then pitch me an idea or a prompt for a new fic be it one-shot or song fic i don't care. Let the challenge begin. **

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 2<strong>_

Despite the fact that he had a total stranger in his spare room still sleeping after he rescued him on the beach last night, Dustin found himself totally at ease with the stranger's presence. He didn't know if it was because they both had the same area of study but Dustin couldn't bring up any feelings of fear or even to put himself on edge Tommy was just too damn nice. This was probably why he was in his kitchen making them both his special white and milk chocolate chip pancakes only a few hours after meeting him.

Smiling as he worked over the stove trying to create a nice breakfast Dustin began to hum the Brazilian lullaby his father used to sing to him every night before he went to bed. Even though Shane was the one who was the singer he considered himself to be a nice singer, he wasn't tone deaf by any means-playing a range of instruments made sure of that but he wasn't an amazing singer which was why only a handful of people had ever actually heard him sing.

"Smelling good"

Dustin turned around and saw Tommy standing in the door way to the kitchen looking like he'd just woken up sniffing the air around him. Giggling despite himself Dustin turned and poured the stranger a cup of coffee which he eagerly accepted, Dustin looked at the other man and found himself smiling he remembered his first week after being a ranger, he had practically lived on coffee after his first taste in fact unless he had a morning cup he acted a lot like Tommy had just acted.

"Hope you like pancakes" he said as he served up two plates of the round delectables.

Tommy made a noise of agreement and took one of the plates Dustin offered him and moved over to the other side of the breakfast bar where he took the seat next to Dustin who was sipping his own mug of coffee. "Like to cook do you?" he asked winking as he cut into his first cake.

"Yeah had to, don't have anyone else to do it" Dustin said shrugging as he shoved a mouthful of his breakfast down his throat.

Looking over at his guest he saw Tommy's questioning look and put down his knife and fork with a sigh, he really hated telling this story it always made others pity him, and he really didn't need other people's pity he was coping just fine. "When I graduated high school my mum and my dad decided to head off on a holiday to give m some privacy for my eighteenth" he said staring into his half filled coffee mug. "They were gone for about six months as my dad had friends over in Brazil when they decided to come back. Only thing is the plane's engines blew when they were above the ocean" he said softly.

"Oh god" Tommy whispered as he figured out what happened "They didn't make it did they?"

Dustin shook his head and then gave his guest a smile "My dad apparently save fifteen people before he drowned, my mom died on impact something about the force" he said before taking another bite of his pancakes.

Noticing that the young boy didn't want to talk about this anymore Tommy decided to approach another subject one that was probably just a little more touchy then his parent's death. "Dustin I have to ask you something" he said absently as he took another bite of his food and dear god this kid could cook.

"Okay"

Tommy put his utensils down and turned so he could look the younger boy in the eye "Dustin were you a power ranger?" when Dustin froze up Tommy nodded and sighed "Thought so"

"What! How'd you figure it out" Dustin asked in shock, he had been so carefully to hide everything ranger related in the house so how was it that this stranger had been able to find everything out so damn easily.

Chuckling at Dustin's spunk Tommy shrugged "I've been round the track a few times" he said carefully "I was one of the original rangers" he admitted and Dustin felt all his anger fade away as he thought through everything.

Everything slid into place for the ex-yellow ranger, of course Tommy would know if he was a ranger because Tommy would have seen the signs. As an ex-ranger himself Tommy would have been able to see the obvious attempts of him trying to hide his old life just as he would have done when he lost his own powers. "Oh...that makes a lot of sense"

"Yeah imagine my surprise when I noticed the subtle hints that I've seen in myself" Tommy said finishing off his pancakes.

Dustin smiled and put the plates in the sink before he leant over to his fellow ranger and gave him a big grin "What colours were you?" he asked as he reminded himself that Tommy had said he had been a ranger more than once "Or were you the same colour each time?"

Laughing at the excitement Dustin was displaying Tommy was reminded of Rocky who he hadn't seen in a long time and felt himself grinning right back "I wasn't the same colour I've been multiple" he admitted and then saw Dustin grinning to himself "Guessing you were happy about that?"

"More like pleased" the younger ranger admitted as the two of them moved towards the sitting room where Tommy had woken up the previous night. "I had figured you would have been different colours you just don't seem like a one colour kind of ranger"

Tommy laughed and sat down nodding "Thanks it's good to be with someone who see that" he said "now where should I start from?"

In Storm Charges Hunter sat in front of his bike just staring he couldn't believe Dustin had been able to keep that away from him for so long, for almost two years his best friend-okay so Dustin was a lot more to him then his best friend-had been able to hide from him that he wasn't just a motocross loving ninja but he was taking studies at the university as well...when the hell did that happen?

"Yo Hunter, Earth to Hunter!" the crimson ninja was pulled away from his inner musings by Kelly who was staring at him with a bright amused grin on her face. "Lost ya there for a bit" she said and Hunter blushed sheepishly.

Scratching the back on his head he let out an embarrassed chuckle and nodded "Yeah got a lot on my mind" he admitted turning back to the bike he was supposed to be working on.

"Let me guess" Kelly began leaning against the table behind him "It has something to do with Dustin" she asked shocking Hunter with her bluntness so much he dropped the tool he was working with.

Spinning around he gave his boss a wide eyed shocked stare "W-what?" he stammered, how the hell did Kelly know he had been so careful the only person he'd told about his feelings was Blake and he was somewhere around America driving for Factory Blue.

Smirking at her blonde workers expression Kelly clapped him on the shoulder and gave him a mocking sympathetic smile "Oh Hunter you aren't very subtle" she said holding back her mirth "I mean the way you lit up around my little freestyler was a big clue" she pointed out and Hunter looked down to hide his red face.

Kelly was right, he thought, he was happier when he saw Dustin when the other boy smiled he couldn't help but grin right back, it was sort of pathetic he guessed. But the damn kid was so infectious in everything he did when Dustin was excited it was hard for him not to get excited, when the yellow ranger had been sad he had tried everything in his power to make him happy again because a sad Dustin was just...it was just _wrong_. The previous afternoon when Dustin had been talking about his college courses and how much he enjoyed them he saw another side to his quirky earth ninja, he saw the smarter more knowledgeable Dustin who was really into studying and reading.

The way Dustin had talked about his studies and all the different things he'd wanted to do once he graduated he had felt himself awed by his younger friend. Unlike Dustin who had such big dreams like opening his own Dino academy for people who had a thirst for the study of the ancient creatures he had no big dreams to speak of, in his mind he was where he was supposed to be: he was the head sensei at Thunder Academy, what else could he do. He wasn't going to go to college even if it killed him and he really didn't have the drive to go pro with his riding, he sort of felt second rate.

"How'd you figure it out?" he asked bringing himself out of his thoughts and giving Kelly a small smile, he might as well find out how his boss had found out, he wanted to know who he'd shot himself in the foot.

Kelly looked at hunter and chuckled softly before pushing herself up on the work bench-luckily it was a slow day which meant she was able to chill and relax with her worker who seemed so conflicted "Well there is the touching" she said after a moment.

Hunter gave Kelly a confused stare, what did she mean touching, he wasn't averse to touching-he didn't always do it by any means but it wasn't like he treated people by lepers. In fact since moving to Blue Bay Harbour and meeting the others he had been more touchy then he'd been in pretty much his whole life-being rangers did that to a person gave you a comradeship that broke most barriers.

"Huh?" was the only thing he could come up with and Kelly giggled at his unintelligent question.

"Hunter you aren't very touchy with anyone" she said seriously and the crimson ninja looked back and couldn't disagree more, he was always hugging and touching people held yesterday he had his arm around Dustin's shoulders all afternoon, when he told her this his boss nodded and gave him an expectant look that he just blinked blankly at-what the hell wa she getting at?

Sighing when she realised that her friend hadn't gotten she continued with her explanation "Hunter: you aren't very touchy feely...with anyone besides Dustin" she finished crossing her arms with a huff-seriously she worked with the most oblivious people in the world first Blake and Tori and now she had to deal with Hunter and Dustin.

Hunter's eyes widened and he's jaw fell open in shock as he realised that Kelly was right, he was always touching Dustin. He was always hugging him or hand an arm around him shoulders whenever he could, then of course there are the smaller touches the more subtle ones like ruffling his hair or touching his arm for no reason, no wonder Kelly had figured it out-he really did touch Dustin...a lot.

"Oh" he said after a moment and then looked up at his boss meekly "Any other reasons?" he asked in a way that had her inner girl going 'Aww'-seriously between Dustin's universal cuteness and Hunter who had the sexy mysterious guy going on it was no wonder she had so many female customers-hell even the gayer guys in California came here just to see Dustin who wasn't shy with his sexuality at all.

Thinking on Hunter's question for a few moments she mentally flickered through all her memories of Hunter and smirked when she figured out her other clue "There was the staring"

"I do not stare!" Hunter protested and Kelly laughed and nodded pointing her finger at him

"Oh yes you do!"

The crimson ninja crossed his arms and turned his head away as he flushed "Really describe on time I was staring" he muttered, he was not his brother he would not be the guy who mooned over the one he liked without having the courage to ask him he was the guy who...gazed that sounded right he was the gazer.

But Kelly didn't back down she grinned and crossed her arms in victory "Okay let's see...oh okay: three weeks ago, Dustin came in after it had rain and his shirt was all wet and clingy" he said and Hunter could vividly remember that day-Dustin had looked edible "You stared at him from the moment he walked in until the moment he left the room, hell you stared at the door he left from for a good ten minutes before Shane snapped you out of it"

Gaping at his boss when she finished he shook his head, he couldn't not be that bad! But as he thought back to that day he noticed that yes he really was that bad...how stupid he must have looked to the others he really had just stood and stared at Dustin like he was the only thing in the whole world, well he sort of was in his world.

Hunter groaned and let his head hang god he was so stupid! The others probably though he was some kind of obsessed freak, and that was one thing he wasn't-he was not obsessed! Seeing her employee's inner turmoil Kelly patted him on the shoulder and then leapt off the work bench she had been perched upon and left the room leaving Hunter to his thoughts, she could do no more, she had opened Hunter's eyes to the truth now she could only hope he would tell Dustin his true feelings because she didn't know how much longer her little freestyle would stick around.

Back at Dustin's house the earth ninja was clutching his stomach as Tommy told him of the time he and his team had been changed into kids and he had told Rocky-his blue ranger-that he couldn't have Adam-his green ranger-to his self. The way the multicoloured ranger had described it Adam had become a good friend of him but Rocky was in love with him and when they were turned into kids Adam had been fought over to the point where the Asian ranger had hidden with Kat-the pink ranger.

"No way!" he gasped as he finally stopped laugh "You did not!"

Tommy grinned and nodded "Yep I basically told Rocky that if he didn't share Adam he couldn't be my blue ranger" he said shrugging "You have to understand this Dustin-Adam was my best friend after Jase left"

The yellow ranger laughed and shook his head "So what happened after you became the right age again" he asked happily. The truth was he was amazed by the ranger sitting in front of him-not only did he serve three times but he had been on so many adventures and why he would never trade his time as a Ninja Storm Ranger he couldn't help but want to be a ranger again so he could have the same type of adventures that Tommy had.

"Well you see that's where it gets complicated" Tommy said rubbing the back of his neck "You see Adam was my Second in command so he and I had to spend a lot of time together but Rocky well...he started to get really nervous around him and ended up telling my he still had those feelings for him"

Dustin smiled and nodded, it must have been something about being a ranger or something because according to what Tommy had told him almost nine times out of ten rangers ended up dating rangers-just look at his damn team if he followed the trend he would be dating Hunter. "So what happened?"

"I told Rocky to man up and tell Adam his feelings" Tommy said shrugging

'And"

The grin Tommy gave him was so kind and warm that Dustin could tell that the blue and green ranger had a happy ending which made everything just that little sweeter in his opinion "Well when Rocky finally said something Adam kissed him and the two of them have been together ever since"

Dustin smiled and clapped happily "Yay" he said with a dreamy sigh, it might be stereotypical gay but the thing was he liked it when things turned out well, he wasn't a diehard romantic by any means but he didn't like it when others didn't get their happy endings.

Tommy smiled at his enthusiastic friend and then took the plates they had been using for lunch into the kitchen while Dustin turned back to his laptop, his assignment was finished and according to Tommy who he learned had his friggin doctorate in the subject, thought it was amazing so with a happy grin Dustin quickly hooked into his email and sent it to his professor. Having done that Dustin stretched out of the couch and thought back to everything that had happened to him in the last few hours.

He had quit from the wind academy stating he didn't want to be a Sensei, then he had told Hunter everything: about how he didn't want to be sensei and how he was taking collage course. He had then saved some guy from dying on the beach via suffocation who he found out just happened to turn out to be one of the original rangers and a friggin Doctor in palaeontology which he just so happened to study as well and since breakfast the two of them had been swapping ranger stories like old friends, although he guessed that Once a ranger always a ranger.

Life had really thrown him through a loop he didn't think things like this really happened let alone to guys like him. But at the same time it was about time he got some good in his life, he lost his sister and then his parents in the one year and now he had the best friends he could ever ask for and Tommy who he found himself looking to as a father despite the fact he had only met the man the previous evening-funny how things worked that way wasn't it.

"Hey Dustin" he heard Tommy asked as he moved back into the room and he rolled his head to the side to look at the older ranger "What year are you in...At college" Tommy asked happily as he perched himself on the arm of the couch.

"Second year" Dustin said with a sigh "I have to go on a dig soon" he said letting out a frustrated groan.

Tommy stared at the first male yellow ranger with shock, when he had been in college the digs had been his favourite parts of college why did the boy beside him make it sound like some sort of torture, when he asked all Dustin did was chuckle dryly. "Because dude: I don't have my mentor yet" he said shrugging and everything made sense to the multi ranger.

He had been picked up by Anton at the end of his first year which meant he didn't have to worry about being chosen when it came time to find mentors. It made his life a lot easier, glancing down at Dustin he couldn't understand why someone hadn't snapped the boy up already: from what he read the kid was the best up and comer he'd seen for a while and he had the best personality for a kid his age he would want him.

Stilling at the thought Tommy grinned at the yellow ranger making him arch an eyebrow at him in confusion, he was due for a dig and he needed an assistant now that he no longer had Anton or Smitty and Dustin seemed perfect. "You need a mentor?" he asked carelessly

'Ah yeah dude that's what I said" Dustin said slowly and made himself sit up so he could look the other in the eyes.

Grinning at his fellow ranger's confusion Tommy placed a calming hand on his shoulder and looked right into his amber eyes seeing Dustin relax under his wise gaze "The how would you like it if I offered to be your mentor?"

Dustin gasped and blinked quickly for a few moments, no way did he just dream that 'Really...you want me to be your assistant" he asked excitedly, if he could have his pick of mentors Tommy would be perfect not only did he know about the whole ranger thing but the other guy seemed to really understand where his fascination with Raptor's came from-something the professors didn't understand.

Tommy nodded and then laughed when he suddenly had an armful of Dustin how was chanting Think you over and over. He still couldn't believe this kid was a yellow the damn kid acted more like Green-well the newer greens, in fact he reminded him a lot of Adam when he was the green ranger, he reminded him of the way Adam had done everything he could to keep his team happy even losing most of his shy personality in fact Dustin was nothing like Trini, Aisha or Tanya hell he was nothing like Taylor the yellow wild force ranger was terrifying no wonder Cole and Merrick found each other dating before they knew what dating really was.

"Woah kid" he said laughing and then laid a hand on his head giving him a big smile "How soon can you leave?" he asked "Because I'm due for another dig real soon and I'd love to take you"

Dustin quickly ran back to his computer and noticed his professor had sent him a reply to his assignment, grinning the yellow ranger quickly typed his news back and hit the enter button happily before turning to his new mentor with a bright grin "I can leave right now"

Laughing at the impulsiveness Dustin showed Tommy nodded and looked down at his watch "Right, well you pack and fix everything up around here" he said and saw Dustin nodding "And I'm gonna go get a car"

When Tommy walked out the door Dustin let out a relieved laugh and then flopped back down on the couch...he was leaving! Taking a final look around the sitting room he picked up his text books and laptop before ascending the stairs into his room. Pulling out his duffle bag that his dad had gotten him for when he had an interstate motocross competition Dustin began packing his wardrobe-which if he was being honest wasn't that large.

Once he was packed and ready he still had room in his duffle and walked over to his draws and pulled out his photo album and packed it as well, he might be leaving but he wasn't going to forget everyone here he couldn't especially Hunter. Dustin froze when he thought of the crimson ninja and then picked up his notebook and a pen, he had to say good bye even if it was in a letter because he sure as hell wouldn't be staying.

Hunter pulled up in front of Dustin's house and grinned as he bounced up the porch steps, he had come to tell the other how he felt and if all went well he was going to take him out on a date. He might not know how the other felt but he knew he couldn't keep hiding how he felt from the yellow ranger anymore-although according to Kelly he was doing a terrible job at it anyway-and he could only hope that Dustin felt the same.

When he reached the large front door Hunter took a calming breath before he knocked loudly but frowned when no one came to the door after a few minutes so he knocked again. But once again he was left standing out the front like an idiot so with a sigh Hunter found the spare key Dustin kept on the door frame and opened the door and stepped in. The yellow ranger had probably fallen asleep considering it was six in the afternoon.

But as he walked through the house Hunter could swear something was different, it looked barer, more empty like Dustin wasn't really there. Even when his parent's died the Brooks home had felt warm and had a Dustin feel to it, but at this moment as he walked through the house it just felt cold and...Empty. Stopping at the Garage Hunter peaked in and frowned-Dustin's bike and gear was gone but when he had checked the track before coming here the other riders had said that Dustin hadn't been there all day.

Closing the garage door Hunter frowned in confusion and a little fear, he would never say it but he was beginning to get worried-what if Dustin had been kidnapped? When he reached Dustin's door the crimson ninja took a steadying breath as he had at some point began to breath really heavy and pushed the door open and when he saw the sight before him he felt his heart break.

The room was bare, it was empty, there were no posters on the walls, the photo's that had once littered the walls and windows had been pulled down and the drawers were pulled open and empty. Dustin's wardrobe door was wide open and Hunter could see the empty space that rows and rows of clothes had once filled. Hunter sat on Dustin's bed and took a shuddering breath: what the hell had happened here? Had Dustin left, but why wouldn't he tell anyone why wouldn't he tell him if he had?

Flinging himself back on the bed Hunter frowned when he felt something hit his head when he had laid on the pillow. Sitting up Hunter saw that he had laid back on a letter, a letter addressed to him, a letter addressed to him in _Dustin's _hand writing, taking a deep breath he picked up the small folded piece of paper and opened it up and began to read the script Dustin had wrote to him.

_Dearest Hunter_

_I don't know what to really say to you. What I'm doing is evil and wrong and above all else it's selfish. But can't I be selfish-even a little. _

_Considering you are reading this letter I guess you have found out I've left and you are probably wondering why I left without telling anyone why I didn't tell you-and don't pretend that wasn't what you were thinking because you so are! The answer to your question is quite complicated the short version is that I've been offered the opportunity to go on a dig. _

_I found someone after you and I talked on the beach. He would have died so I bought him to my house, as fate would have it the man was Dr Tommy Oliver, an ex-ranger and a Dr in palaeontology can you believe my luck?_

Hunter rubbed at his eyes as his vision started to blur with tears he couldn't cry it would ruin the letter and it was the last thing he had of Dustin and he would not ruin that! He couldn't he had to finish the damn letter. Gasping in a shuddering breath Hunter looked back at the words on the page and continued to read he had to know what happened and this little paper had the answers he so desperately wanted.

_Anyway after Tommy found out who I was and we talked he offered to be my mentor, as you can see I accepted. I know you are probably thinking that me leaving was your fault and I just want to reassure you: that is a load of bullshit! This decision I made is completely of my own, Hunter I need you to understand I don't belong in Blue bay harbour I don't think I ever did._

_I thought that I might be able to adjust if I could have had one thing but the one thing I could no...The one thing I would have stayed for is unattainable. Hunter I guess what I'm saying is that well...I love you. Before you laugh it off it's not in a brotherly way either, I Dustin Brooks love you Hunter Bradley and always will. _

_That is why I have given you my house, I know it's not much but when I think back on all the memories we have shared in that house I can't help but smile. You and I bonded in that house we became bros there and I know that out of everyone I could have left my belongings to, you were the one I trusted the most. _

_I don't expect you to have feelings back and maybe I'm taking the cowardly way out by writing all of this in a letter but dude you are the most imporant thing in my life. I would have done anything for you as long as you asked and maybe...Maybe that is why I have to get away. Since I met you and Blake I have been yours, that much I am certain, the moment you smirked at me at the track and said 'I'm Hunter' I was a goner and since that moment I haven't been able to really think of another in the way I thought of you._

_Sure I flirted-a lot-and I tried to get over you I did but you Hunter Bradley are just too amazing to simply get over. So writing this letter I've come to the conclusion that I need to leave if not for my career and dreams but so I can try to get my emotions and feelings under control because dude what I feel for you is my whole life and I need to be me: I need to be Dustin Brooks. _

_I don't want you to blame yourself okay. Promise me you'll get over this, you'll party in my house like we used to and you'll live your life because I know something about you that you don't really show a lot of people. I am honoured that you let me see that you Hunter Bradley are an amazing person: you are loyal and kind and I love you. If you ever doubt yourself and believe this: I Dustin Brooks will always love you with my whole being because let's face it before you...I wasn't me. _

_Until next time dude: Your Yellow buddy._

_Dustin._

Choking on the tears that had spilled forth Hunter dropped the letter and let it fall to the floor: Dustin loved him! The damn boy had loved him back but he had left. He would have stayed if he'd asked" Why didn't he let him ask!

As the words Dustin had written replayed over and over in his head Hunter did something he hadn't done since he had lost his parents: he cried for a love lost, only this time the crimson ninja didn't have his brother to help him: he really was all alone.

* * *

><p><strong>Please don't hurt me Duster fans. It will all make sense later...i hope. <strong>


	3. Rangers Activate

_**Thank you, thank you to all my loyal readers, reviewers and favers: all your attention helped me speedily write this next chappy. Right now some info...this is where the true part of the story begins: it takes place during Day of the Dino so it's like a good few months after Dustin left Blue Bay. **_

_**This starts off with Conner at the forefront because he is like one of the other main character focuses in this fic but will return to our earth ninja very quickly. **_

_**Heads up no one has guessed Dustin's pre-destined colour yet: hehehe. **_

_**Chapter 3**_

For most kids the first day of school was horrible but Conner couldn't help but be a little excited, he had heard that they had a new science teacher and a new principle, something he was slightly happy about. He had nothing against the old one but he hated being treated differently just because he was the school soccer star, his father didn't really care about his grades that was obvious considering he spent more time away on business trips then he did at home-hell he was away for the rest of his high school career and according to the phone call he'd gotten the night before he might not even make graduation.

Sighing he packed his soccer kit and then slug his red bag over his shoulder, he had no idea where his obsession with the colour red had come from and he couldn't really pin point the exact moment when it had began but he really like the colour-hell even his soccer uniform was bright red! Glancing around his room Conner sighed happily and then walked out of the room thinking about what the day would bring. Just like when he had woken up with his strange sudden obsession with red, he had woken up that morning with the feeling something big was going to happen and he was actually waiting to leave.

So when the he saw the clock strike eight thirty he waltzed out of his room and locked the house up behind him before he jumped into his bright cherry red mustang-like seriously did he own anything that wasn't red anymore?-and started off towards school. Tapping the steering wheel as he drove through the streets of Reefside Conner couldn't help but think about his situation at school: people thought of him as an idiot, an airhead and it sort of ticked him off.

He would be the first admit: he wasn't the smartest person in the world but he wasn't the stereotypical jock either, he was passing with an A- average and he had mad instincts: something that helped him on the soccer field. He wasn't the smartest person in the school and he didn't tell anyone in the school what he got on his tests or assignments because he didn't think it was important but sometimes he wanted to be taken seriously and not treated like an airhead what he really wanted was someone to believe in him: he wanted true friends.

His teammates were great there was no doubt about that but Conner could also see that it wasn't true friendship that they had for him, it was more like hero worship, he was Conner McKnight up and coming pro soccer player with the skills to run rings around them on the field, and that was cool. They treated him nicely and were a little pushy in the fact that they tried to do _everything _for him, but they weren't people he could tell anything to, they weren't going to be his friends once he graduated and they sure as hell wouldn't understand what he was going through at his home.

Turning into the school parking lot he looked up just in time to see a bright yellow dirt bike go flying past him. The rider was wearing full riding gear and had an ease on the bike that Conner hoped he had on the field, he had been seeing the same Motocross bike and rider for the last three weeks and from what he had dug up through his social circles the rider was a freestyle and had no fear in flipping through the air. Watching the bike disappear down the streets Conner couldn't help ut wish he had that kind of courage, that guy jumped into the air on a Motocross bike and then leapt off it only to land back on safely what did he do? He ran around a field with a ball: big comparison.

Shaking his head the young man turned his car off and picked up his backpack and shouldered it before locking the machine, as he moved through the school he saw the same various cheerleaders giving him looks of lust and giggling when he smiled at him, the same people clapped him on the back and welcomed him back. It was sort of...boring. He was Bi so the girls while cute didn't really interest him, the guys that did were a little annoying so he didn't bother. He could still remember his first time: it hadn't been very pleasant so he tried to forget it so he thought of himself a virgin something no one believed.

Everyone thought of him as Conner McKnight the guy both girls and other guys wanted and all he had to do was take his pick-it was annoying. If he was going to date someone he wanted it to be because he liked them and they liked him for him and not because of who he was! Shaking away his morbid thought he walked into the locker room and began to change into his soccer kit, he might as well see who this new Principle was and how she dealt with people ditching class, he thought as he kicked his shoes off.

"Oi McKnight you ready" Brandon asked as he came in with his goalie gear already on with a excited look on his face as he looked at his captain and the teams star shooter.

Something the two of them always did as the two senior members of the school team was that in the morning they would have shooting practise. It helped get Conner's mind clear and helped get Brandon's eye in: not that the boy ever stopped one of his shots-hadn't since sophomore year-but the goalie stated when he bought it up to him that no one shot like him in their competition and that he just had to be able to track the ball-not stop it.

"Yeah just give me a sec" he said pulling up his socks, he liked Brandon he was the only one on the team who didn't hero worship him-maybe because the two of them had been on the same team together since they were like six-but Brandon wasn't a friend he was one of those guys who you knew and liked but couldn't spend a lot of time with because you just didn't get along that well.

The goalie nodded and went back out to the field leaving the other boy to finish changing in peace something everyone had learnt Conner needed before he went to play-calmed the nerves. Once he was set the young man picked up his favourite soccer ball and wandered out to the empty pitch and put the ball on the ground giving Brandon a cocky grin. Looking up as the bell rang he gave his friend a quick glance to make sure he wasn't going anywhere and then took a few steps back and waited for the nod that would signal that his goalie was ready.

Shooting was something he'd never had any problems with; he had never had any problem kicking the ball as fast and hard as he could and he never had any problems with his aim which was why he wasn't surprised when Brandon was unable to stop any and all of his strikes. Normally this type of training would be enjoyable to the point where he could have done the same thing all day everyday but for some reason he wasn't feeling the same great thrill he would normally get when he score multiple times in a row instead he felt...empty.

Conner was so distracted that he didn't realise that he was being spoken to until he had missed half of what Brandon was saying to him, luckily he had managed to catch the last part about the new principle and how the rumour was she's worked in a prison before. Silently thanking the school board for giving sending a principle with a backbone Conner just sent Brandon a cocky smirk and put his hands on his hips as he fell into the character he was expected to play.

"So what" he said and then snorted "Listen if anyone asks what you've been doing or tries to get you into trouble just say you were with Conner M-"

"Mr McKnight" a stern and dry voice interrupted him making him freeze and spin around to see that the woman who spoke was a good few inches shorter than him-not that shocking he was freakishly tall for his age-and had a stern glare on his face and asked him why he was out of class and if he had a pass to do so. Smiling at the woman with bright eyes Conner tried to see if he could worm his way out of the punishment she looked moments away from giving him and his inner self did a little dance when the woman shot down all his attempts and told him in a single sentence "You can continue to think up excuses in Detention: this afternoon!"

In that moment Conner knew that Principle Randall was a force to be reckoned with, if she was able to pull him into line on the first day then he could already tell that for the rest of the year he would be able to get away with acting just a little more like himself and a little less like the air headed jock the other people in the school expected him to be. Following the shorter woman through the quad Conner winced when the new principle pulled another student-a young very talented singer she could have been in his year but he didn't know-into detention for singing without asking for permission.

"She got you too then" he whispered as the singer fell into step with him.

The girl looked up and gave him an amused smirk to which he mirror and was about to ask her what her name was when suddenly all the sprinklers went off at once drenching everyone except a dark skinned boy walking across the quad with an umbrella and a cheery smile on his face. Unfortunately for the guy Randall had spotted him and barked out his name like a drill sergeant making the boy freeze and his smile to slip off.

Moments later the three of them were seated next to each other in front of Randall's office waiting for their detention slips that would require them to stay behind for at least an hour that afternoon. Conner took this time to really look at his companions, the girl...Kira if he remembered correctly was in both his science and his English class, she was nice-or so he heard- and extremely talented, the dark skinned boy was Ethan head of the techies of the school apparently he had hacked into the school mainframe the previous year and had lost nearly all of the teachers data.

"So what is Conner McKnight doing here" Kira asked resting her guitar against her leg and arching and eye brow at him "Aren't you like bulletproof or something?" she drawled and he chuckled he probably did look like that from the outsides.

Shaking he head he rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes hoping to rest his mind for a moment "Nah, this new principle isn't like the last one. I get no special treatment" he said and because his eyes were closed he missed the strange looks the other two were giving him because of the bright and relieved voice he'd just used.

He opened his eyes when Ethan cleared his throat and gave him a patient look waiting for him to say what he needed to "You don't like the special treatment?" he asked almost as if he had spoken another language just before.

"Nope" Kira's eyes flew opened and before she could protest he held up a hadn to silence her so he could continue "You have to understand I've been the school's star strike for as long as I've been here" he said slowly and looked down at his feet sadly "Ever since then I've been given passes and like you said earlier I became Bulletproof"

"Yeah okay I get that" Kira said looking back at Ethan and then held up her hands in a helpless gesture "I still don't get what is so bad about that" and Ethan nodded in agreement but was leaning forward until he was almost resting on Kira's back so he could listen to Conner explain himself.

Looking into both of their eyes Conner could have leapt for joy when he didn't see the hero worship most of the school had when he spoke in their eyes but instead found nothing but honest curiosity, it was about damn time that someone saw him as human so he took a breath to continue "I was what fourteen, fifteen when I came to high school" he said looking at both of them who nodded before he continued "I was fifteen and I had everyone falling at my feet. Yeah it was great I'm not gonna lie but it began to get old and fast" he explained and leant back against the wall looking straight ahead.

"No one really got to know you" Kira said sadly and then put her hand on his shoulder when he nodded "Well looks like we have to spend the rest of the day and if Randall gets her way the rest of the afternoon together, so how about you tell us about the mystery that is the great Conner McKnight" Conner looked up at her and saw the bright grin that was plastered on her face and then looked over at Ethan who was nodding in agreement.

Smiling at the other two he nodded and then began to tell them about who he really was and for the first time since he had arrived at that school in freshman year he felt like he might actually be getting friends.

High School kids were too curious for their own good that was the theory Dustin was sure he had just proven as he watched the three colour coded Teenagers wander over to the large meteor chunk with the Tyranno, Tricera and Ptera dino gems lodged deep in the mineral rich rock. Normally when a person found themselves in a 'creepy dino cave' they wouldn't wander over to a creepy space rock that had even creepier gems lodged in its surface.

But when the boy in red mention a Dr O he couldn't hold back the chuckle when he thought of his mentor's reaction when he told him that the power had already chosen it's wielders-and Tommy had been so looking forward to selecting his rangers. Dustin looked over each of the soon to be rangers and watched as they were drawn to their gems, the boy in red-Conner the young girl had called him-seemed to be worthy of the ancient leadership role he was about to take on, his blue was just like every other blue he'd met-he was the smart one-let's face it Tori was the smartest besides Cam.

Although he couldn't help the smug smile that found its way onto his face when he realised that the yellow ranger powers was once again falling to a female. He as the only male yellow ranger to date felt special that he was so far the only male worthy enough to be selected to be the 'heart' but when he watch Tori he knew that the girl was an excellent choice to take on his powers he was proud to watch the three of them as they took the gems from their holdings-well they sort of flew into their hands but whatever.

The three of them ran to the exit that had revealed itself and Dustin moved out of the darkness and crossed his arms over his yellow clothed chest before letting out a sad sigh, he couldn't wear his colour anymore he thought sadly-that duty fell to Kira and dude she was already doing it! Chuckling at the three new rangers that had just been created Dustin turned on the monitors making the Dino lab lights to switch on and reveal the cave to him in all its high tech glory.

'**Dino Lab recognition voice verification' **the computer monitor demanded and Dustin grinned at the Haley created software-dude she was awesome reminded him so much of Cam.

Dustin looked around the lab once more and then smirked as he picked up the headset resting on the controls innocently "Dino Lab Operator Dustin Brooks activate"

The lab flashed green making Dustin laugh-it was just so Haley something about him being unable to use any of the other ranger colours and being too bright and bubbly for black to be his activation colour. Smiling as the screens flared to life Dustin watched as the Dino Thunder symbol flared onto the screen making Dustin proud.

'**Welcome Dino Lab Operator Dustin Brooks' **

Dustin looked around once more and then at his shirt and knew as soon as he activated the Dino Thunder Ranger Id scan he would no longer be the yellow ranger. The idea that he was being so easily replaced made him slightly nostalgic, he still had the power he could feel it under his skin bubbling and filling his bones with power but he also knew that the three gems that had just bonded with their rangers weren't for him he hadn't felt the spark of power when he had dug the gems up.

Taking a deep breath he spun around and laid his hands on the control panel before speaking "Activate Dino Gem Ranger Fusion" he ordered as his hands flew across the keys in a much memorised pattern "ranger Identification scan" The computer hummed for a moment before three profiles popped up on screen making Dustin grin as the words fusion complete flashed in the bottom corner of the screen.

'**Red Tyranno Ranger: Conner McKnight activated'**

'**Blue Tricera Ranger: Ethan Ames activated'**

'**Yellow Ptera Ranger: Kira Ford activated'**

Dustin smiled and looked over at the glass case that was awaiting instructions before speaking "Morphor Bio fusion creation begin" the now ex-yellow ranger smiled proudly as the three dino morphers he and Tommy had designed began to be formed in the glass case before he turned back to the screen where he couldn't stop the laugh that burst forth from him when he realised what he had just done-Boy Tommy was gonna be pissed.

After being lectured about how he should of at least stopped the teens from touching the rocks Dustin found himself glaring at the screen in the dino lab as he watched the Zords he and Tommy had helped each other build terrorize the city. _**'Dustin talk to me how do we stop the damn things!' **_Tommy demanded as his rangers fought the Tyrannodrones that Zeltrax had bought with him when he had challenged the rangers to a fight.

"Give me a sec Tommy" he muttered as he swung to what should have been the Zord monitor and began clicking the keys in a unknown dance. "Activate Unknown Zord Scan: locate problem and locate possible resolution!"

The computer bought up stills of each Zord and a green scan ran over them and its data filled the screen making Dustin proud that all Haley's coding and his machinery was working in tandem together. **'Problem located: inner wild dino still active suggested resolution-rangers dino bond must be completed' **

Smiling at the screen he wheel back over to the main screen and locked into Dr O's comms "Tommy the rangers haven't completely bonded with their inner dino's yet. They have to calm them down by finishing their bond" he said and then sat back happily as he ran through the Ranger suit power levels.

'_**Thanks' Dustin you're the best'**_

Once the rangers had been debriefed and sent on their way by their new mentor Dustin jumped down from his place in the shadows and landed next to his friend sighing tiredly. He hadn't thought being tech support would be so damn hard; he had a real big new sense of sympathy and respect for Cam. To think that the samurai would sit in Ninja Ops and direct them from behind his computer while they went off and fought-considering he had just done it, he could easily say he had never done anything as tiring and stressful as that.

Tommy looked over at his and put a comforting hand on his shoulder and gave him a sad smile which he mirrored "How are the Zords?" he asked softly knowing it would have been hard for Dustin to watch his favourite dinosaurs turned into wild beasts and not being able to do anything.

"There fine, happy to see me and even happier to have found their partners" he said cracking his neck and letting out a tired sigh all he wanted to do was sleep for like a week!

The mutli ranger seemed to have the same idea as he moved the two of them towards the living area of the house and shut off the lights of the Dino lab as they were going making Dustin sort of relieved, he loved the lab he truly did but he couldn't help but feel a little cautious of it. "Things are gonna get really hectic around here aren't they?"

Tommy nodded and squeezed his shoulder in sympathy before he nodded sadly "Yeah sorry about that" he whispered making Dustin grin at him "About everything: yelling at you this afternoon and then again for telling you to keep your identity a secret"

Dustin just laughed and shook his head before leaning against the kitchen counter as his mentor made the two of them cups of coffee something neither of them could have survived without at that moment. "Nah don't worry about it I understand why, I mean this way I can keep an eye on them at work and throughout the day without them having the pressure of rangering always surrounding them"

"Yeah but still...I mean you are as big a part of this as I am" The multi ranger said rubbing his forehead in a motion that made the ex-yellow ranger see how worried the older man was about the new situation and in turn couldn't stop it when his smile turned warm and he thought back to how close the two of them had become when he had gone out on the dig where they had found the dino gems.

Tommy had become his father in every way, he had taught him things he had always wanted to learn and when he had wanted his tattoo on his back Tommy had been the one to help him go and get it and had helped him through every moment of pain. He had accepted his help with the ranger designs and let him be his partner in everything despite he still felt like his student and him the mentor. Although he had new students to mentor now and he was more like an assistant more than ever.

"Hey" he said taking Tommy's hand giving it a warm squeeze "You're gonna be fine, I have a good feeling about your team" he said and them looked into his mentor's eyes giving him a grin "I think your gonna be surprised by what they show you"

The older ranger shook his head and gave him a smile squeezing right back "No Dustin your wrong" he said and his younger fiend felt his smile slipping or at least fading just that little bit "I think they are gonna surprise the both of us" he said and smiled warmly when Dustin's smile became a full beam.

Dustin knew that Tommy was still terrified at the idea of him being the teens 'Zordon' and knew that the ex-ranger would need him more than ever in coming weeks whenever he made a wrong decision or a bad call but he also knew that when all this was over Tommy was gonna be so proud of his team and what they accomplish and if he knew his mentor they wouldn't fail-there was a reason he had been a handpicked ranger for the greatest mentor in the world-and if he was Mesogog he would be afraid because he had just made a enemy of the-in his eyes-the greatest ranger that had ever lived.

"Come on tell me what you think of the new rangers" Dustin said sliding so he could wrap his arm around Tommy's shoulders as they moved to the sitting room. "I need to know these things you know!"

Tommy just laughed and pulled his sunny friend close to him as he realised that he might just be able to get through this thing if Dustin stayed by his side.

**Any and all comments are readily welcome. Z)**


	4. Couldn't Stay Away Could You

__**Well...I gotta say when i first began this story i did not expect it to get the reaction it had. I want to thank each and every one of my readers. Shout out to Griffin-I have already planned the team up out in fact that was what I first wrote and then worked backwards so be waiting. **

**Disclaimer: *sigh* I wish i owned Power Rangers but i don't-if i did Hunter would have kissed Dustin upon first meeting him.**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 4<strong>_

Not that he was complaining about getting new friends and being a power ranger-because come on: he's a friggin Power ranger! But still why Conner had pulled him out of bed so early on a Saturday was beyond the red ranger's comprehension. But being the red ranger meant he was the leader so Conner pulled himself out of his big warm comfy bed at seven in the morning and made his way to the cafe he had always noticed but never gone into, when he arrived he couldn't stop the smile that found its way onto his face when he saw Kira making her way over to him from the opposite side on the alley.

He liked Kira she was nice, she was like the big sister he had always wanted, she scolded him when he didn't pay attention in class-because they sat together like all the time now it was really strange although Dr O said it was something about their team bond or something really cool like that-and always had a kind word for him after a battle when he had taken a hard hit or something like that for the team. He was still recuperating from a hit he had taken the previous afternoon when he had protected a young woman from a bunch of Tyrannodrones that had attacked the downtown.

"Hey Conner" the yellow ranger said giving him a wide smile as she wandered up to her leader and gave him a hug.

As he returned the hug he couldn't help but remember when Kira had hugged him at school the morning after they had become power rangers. He had felt so scared because now he understood why he was so obsessed with the colour red and why he had thought something big was going to happen and Kira had picked up on it that morning and without even saying hi she had just pulled him into a comforting hug that he had returned, it had made him laugh when he saw the shocked looks of all the others at the school.

"Hiya Kira how are you?" he asked and if it had come from anyone else he was sure that would have been a very vague question but considering they had been Power rangers for a good two weeks it meant something totally different.

He could easily say in the last fourteen days he had used muscles he didn't even know he had and he hurt like hell and he played a physically demanding sport so he could only imagine how Kira and Ethan who spent most of their time inside felt. He was proven right when the yellow ranger grimaced and rubbed her sore shoulder and shook her head.

"Let's say hurting is too nice a description to describe how sore I am" she said and looked up at her leader with a pout, she sometimes wished she had continued with her dancing that she had taken when she had been a kid or something that made her use her body, because even though she knew the red ranger hurt she could also imagine that he was at least a little better off than what she and Ethan were feeling.

The red ranger shrugged and then looked up at the cafe in front of them and looked over at his teammate giving her a mocking bow "After you my lady" he said making her laugh because out of anything she could have guess that Conner was a gentleman wasn't it.

Walking into the cafe Conner and Kira were shocked at how vibrant and cool the place they stood in looked, there were computers all around the place and music was playing lightly from some speakers. Couches were pushed up against walls and there was a place for people to chill and watch some t.v at the back end of the room, it was amazing and standing in the middle of the room in front of some sort or juice bar beaming like a kid on Christmas morning was the blue ranger and the third member of their ranger team: Ethan.

'You made it!" he said bouncing over to them making the other two rangers to smile at their new friend's excitement, one thing they did learn about their techie friend was that most of the time he was in control and could run rings around you with how much he knew but when he got excited about something he reverted back to a little kid: in Kira's words it was sort of cute.

Kira nodded and Conner answered for the both of them "Yeah we said we would didn't we?" he said with a kind smile, and when he said something he meant it. He was even blowing off soccer practise not that anyone really trained with him he normally just stood around calling out plays the others had to work on while his coach watch him with that big proud grin he sported like he had done something great by making Conner do his job.

The blue ranger nodded and flushed when he looked down as he became shy and withdrawn "Yeah but I just sorta figured you had other things to do" he mumbled as he scuffed his shoe "I mean I get that we are teammates and sort of friends but..."

Conner held up a hand silencing the nervous boy's ramblings and shook his head "Ethan you are my friend" he said crossing his arms and nodding when Ethan eyes widened in shock "Yes we are Teammates but like Dr O said: we share a bond that only a few people get to feel"

Nodding at their leaders statement Kira walked forward and threw her arm around Ethan's shoulders wincing only slightly when the movement pulled at her sore muscles-seriously when was she gonna stop feeling so damn sore!-and gave him a warm smile "Yeah what Conner said. We are friends not sort of friends"

Ethan beamed at the two of them and then nodded, when he had first become a ranger with the other two he had been overjoyed, but then it had sunk in that his leader was Conner McKnight the coolest boy at the school and his other teammate was Kira Ford one of the most driven females in the school which made him feel just a little obsolete. When Dr O had told them that they would be friends for life he hadn't really taken it seriously but as he stood smiling at the red and yellow ranger he couldn't help but feel that yes Dr O was right.

"Awesome now because we are such close buds now I wanted to show you my hangout" he said spinning out of Kira's hold and spread his arms wide in a welcome gesture "I mean the dino lab is nice and is like a dream for me but right here is my home" he said happily.

"Where is here?" Kira asked looking around happily as she took in the place once again

"Welcome to the Cyber space" an airy voice said from behind Conner making the new ranger leapt almost a foot in the air and almost use his super speed as he sped to stand next to Ethan. It took a lot not to use his new instincts and fall into a fighting stance almost immediately and taking a quick glance at Kira he noticed that it looked as if the yellow ranger had fought the same instincts as he had.

But looking at the speaker he was shocked to see that it was a pretty auburn haired woman who had a hippyish look about her but a warm-if slightly airy dreamlike-smile on her face. Looking at her closely Conner reckoned she was about Dr O's age maybe a little younger and she had the nicest demeanour he had ever met and without even noticing it he was smiling back and relaxing in her presence. "Hi" he said brightly back-seriously could he be mean to someone who looked so nice?

"Guys this is Haley" Ethan said and smiled at the woman who saw him more than his own mother did and made sure he got his homework done and didn't spend all his time playing his video games that he swore he wasn't addicted to "she's the owner of the Cyberspace" he explained to his slightly confused teammates who just nodded in understanding.

Haley smiled at the three in front of her and then bought out a notebook that Kira swore was from thin air before putting a bright smile and her eyes became sparkling and the yellow ranger could only imagine it was the look the older woman put on for her customers and this made her giggle "So what can I get you all?"

Conner looked around and then shrugged, he was thirsty he hadn't really eaten or drank anything before he had gone to meet Kira so he could go for something "Do you have a Raspberry and citrus twist?" he asked secretly hoping the woman stocked his favourite fruit drink-he didn't even care if it sounded girly it tasted like heaven and when Haley nodded he beamed at her and nodded "I'll get one"

After writing down the soccer players order Haley turned to face Kira who smiled at her leader and shook her head at the childish smile on his face "I'll just get an apple juice" she said and watched as Haley bounced off to make their orders.

Ethan moved them over to his table where his laptop was set up waiting for him to resume his game and was about to say something when the loud sound of a Motorcross bike echoed around the cafe and the rangers were shocked when Haley grin turned into a full blown smile and she moved on the other side of the bar and waited with her hands on her hips for someone to walk through the door. They didn't have to wait long because moments later a figure rushed in wearing bright green and black motorcross gear without the body armour clutching his helmet in one hand and running his hands through his messy hair with the other.

"Dustin so nice to see you!" Haley said in an amused voice making the boy look up and give her a wink and pointed to the clock on the wall to which the owner rolled her eyes and nodded "Yes you still have a few minutes before your shift starts your safe"

The boy threw his hands up and Haley pushed him into the back room chuckling telling him to changed him shoes at least and not to trudge mud all through his cafe. Conner stared after the boy staring in totally awe, he was confident with his sexuality and the others knew that and he could easily say that the boy that had just walked in was Hot! His eyes sparkled and his skin was a glowing tanned that gave him a Brazilian look.

"Okay Ethan who was that!" he asked the computer geek who looked up at his leader and then at Kira who was nodding eagerly, hey she was a girl and a hot guy who obviously rode a motorbike had just walked into the cafe she was gonna get affected she had hormones like every other teenage girl.

When the boy walked out and took a tray from Haley and pecked her on the cheek making her laugh and push him in the direction of a table where he began to take orders Ethan smiled as he recognised the boy "Ah that's Dustin he got here a few months ago, he's really cool"

Conner nodded and then smiled at Haley who had delivered his drink before launching into a discussion with Kira about their science project that Dr O had set them and how he was actually looking forward to completing to which the yellow wearing girl just nodded and launched into her own thoughts about the same project and what direction she was taking and not for the first time since becoming a ranger Conner found himself happily sighing that his teammates were the people he had been waiting for since he began high school-they were true friends.

Dustin took a calming breath and glared at the monitor and then looked over at Haley who was biting her lip in fear, funny how things always seemed to go bad when everything had been going so damn well! Tommy had gone to watch Kira perform the night before and of course he had gone and gotten himself captured because he was Tommy Friggin Oliver and he wasn't Tommy if he wasn't kidnapped by the bad guys. "I swear that man has a sign on him that says 'Kidnap me'" he muttered as he began to assess the communicator function of the morphers.

Haley nodded and looked over to her young friend, she liked Dustin he was so happy and cheerful and he cared a hell of a lot about her and Tommy and now had taken on the new rangers like he was one of them. Of course they didn't know it was him who sent them their zords and they didn't know it was him who cared for the raptors and took care of all their equipment when they weren't using it: they thought Tommy did all of that themselves.

"Dustin shall I get Tommy's legacy video ready?" she asked from her own seat at the controls and heard the younger operator sigh but saw him nod out of the corner of her eye. She knew it would be hard for Dustin to play that video considering Tommy had made him swear to use it for his rangers if anything had happened to him and the younger boy was probably not expecting him to have to use it so soon.

"Comm. command alert activate" Dustin ordered smoothing back his green and black shirt that he had gotten a few days earlier-seriously he hated the fact he'd had to get a new wardrobe all because Kira was the yellow ranger but what could he do and if he was being honest he had found himself liking green he could suddenly see why Cam had been so drawn to it so much.

'**Select the Ranger you wish to alert' **the command centre asked and Dustin looked over to Haley who was searching the locations for the rangers and once he found out that Conner was separate from the other rangers he knew he was going to have to alert more than one person.

"Alert ranger Conner and Ethan please" he commanded and then spun in his chair lacing his fingers together as he thought about what he and Haley were about to do. When Tommy had told him to reveal himself with the video he didn't think he thought it would be so early on in the ranger's stint. He didn't know what he was going to do, he couldn't handle three emotional rangers and he knew that was what was going to happen because he and his team had acted like that when Hunter and Blake had taken Sensei when they were working for Lothor.

Haley seemed to sense her younger friend's inner turmoil because once she had finished collecting the video she laid a comforting hand on his shoulder and gave him a small smile. Sometimes she forgot that not only had Dustin been a ranger the previous year but he was also a master ninja and had recently been taking Maui Tai because he seemed so childish and innocent but it was at times like this when she saw how dark and serious the young ninja could become as soon as he got bad news that she saw it, she saw the ex-yellow wind ninja storm ranger and Earth style Ninja master and secretly she found it a little sad.

When the sound of Conner and Kira arguing came down the corridor Dustin gave Haley a final grin before he pushed himself to his feet and crossed his arms against his chest and made his gaze calm like he had when he was teaching at the academy: he was going to have to act calmly with these rangers otherwise everything could come undone. Haley bit her lip and move slightly behind her younger friend when the three Dino Thunder rangers walked into now laughing-obviously Conner and Kira had worked out their problems-only to freeze when they spotted the two intruders to their secret lair.

"Dustin" Conner choked out too shocked to react in any other way "Haley?"

Luckily he wasn't the only one who was acting that way, at the sight of Dustin and Haley standing at the control centre so naturally Ethan had frozen and had yet to really process what was happening in front of him. Kira had stilled and was just starring open mouthed at Dustin who pointed at the three seats in front of him and in a deep commanding voice that reminded them so much of Dr o when he wanted them to listen he said clearly "Sit down" and without skipping a beat the moved to their seats and sat down silently.

Sighing at their reactions Dustin looked over at Haley who gave him an encouraging smile and he softened his gaze and sat in his own chair facing the Dino Thunder rangers "I know that this has come to a shock to all three of you seeing Haley and I here" he said slowly looking each of them in the eyes and saw them all nod before he continued "But what you have to understand is that Haley and I have been a part of project dino thunder before you were chosen to be the rangers"

"How...why?" Conner whispered unable to form a full question just looking at the other boy in total confusion, what he really wanted to ask was quite simple like how they hadn't figured it out and why hadn't they told him but he was still reeling from see the two of them sitting in the dino lab so calmly when he and his team had been sure that they and Dr O had been the only ones who knew of this place.

Haley put a hand on Dustin's arm and decided to speak up for the first time "Dustin and I run the lab" she explained "Dustin works with your Zords and your Raptors when he isn't busy and during battle he is the one who runs comms and send them to you" she said softly and maybe a little proudly-hell she trained him she could be proud if she wanted to be "I run tech support and make sure everything works I fix all your problems and help the general running of the dino lab"

The dino rangers nodded as one and Dustin sighed leaning forward to speak to them more feely "Look I know this is hard, I've been here where you are" he said looking each of them in the eyes seeing the understanding dawn in them "Haley and I decided to stay in the shadows because Tommy-Dr O-asked us to stay in the dark until you needed us" he said and rubbed his face tiredly "And unfortunately you really need us"

"What do you mean" Conner asked staring at Dustin in shock-he had been a ranger! Oh my god he was sitting with another ex-ranger and from his age the red ranger could only guess that he had been a modern ranger from the last few years which was totally awesome if he really thought about it. But when Dustin continued he felt all the joy in meeting another ex-ranger faded away as Dustin said "Tommy has been taken by Zeltrax"

Watching fights was the worst thing about his job, Dustin decided as he watched Conner lead the rangers off on their new Raptor cycles Haley had made for them. When he had made them watch the legacy video he had felt pride well up in him when he saw them sit just that little bit taller and hold themselves just that little bit straighter as they realised just what type of legacy they came from, when the video got to his team he had to stop the tears welling up in his eyes as he heard Tommy's voice praising his team on the team work they held and forgiving nature they had in accepting the Thunder brothers, it had felt good to hear his mentor say that.

"_**Ah...Dustin you there' **_The ex-ranger grinned when he heard Connor's uneasy voice come over the comms and shook his head at what Tommy was gonna have to deal with when it came to his red ranger. He could still remember how bad his team had suffered when Shane hadn't been in the right state of mind-it had been a little scary.

"Reading you guys loud and clear" he said and made his voice as happy as possible and if you could smile of a comm. Channel he was sure Conner would be giving him a big bright grin for all his trouble. "Now let's say we go and save your mentor huh?"

'_**Let's do it!'**_

When Haley walked up to Dustin a few hours later she was surprised to see him gasping for air as he laughed so hard he had to use the control panel as a support which confused her a little. As far she knew the others had only just saved Tommy and yet here his prodigy was almost rolling on the floor because he was laughing so hard. "Ah Dustin are you okay?" she asked walking over to the green wearing boy.

Dustin waved Haley's question aside and wiped his eyes as he got his laugh under control, his he's locked with Haley's concerned one and he gave her a full blown amused grin before accessing the comm. Channel reserved for the great Tommy Oliver. "You sure about this Tommy...I mean come on Adam will hurt you" he said and Haley looked over at the morphor box and sighed when she realised what her old friend wanted Dustin to do.

'_**Come on Dustin my team needs me' **_Tommy whined over the comm. Making both of its operators roll their eyes at the ex-ranger's tone like seriously this man had fought for Zordon and had saved the world so many times before and yet here he was whining to his nineteen year old student. _**'And besides Adam took my first colour' **_

The two dino lab operators shared a grin, that tone Tommy just took the two of them could practically here the damn pout that the multi-ranger was probably showing on the other side of the comm. "Dude so doesn't count you were like evil" Dustin said but Haley noticed that he was accessing the right bio files so that the new morphor would appear on Tommy's wrist.

"Black ranger Brachio Ranger morphor fusion activate" Dustin commanded and began clicking through Tommy's bio field so he could connect the power back into his soul-something that felt very wrong for the younger man-it was like invasion of privacy or something!

'**Brachio Ranger fusion completed; morphor teleport to Subject-Thomas Oliver' **Haley watched as the black morphor that had just been created in the glass box to Dustin's right disappeared in a flash of black light.

Moments later Tommy's voice came over the comms thanking Dustin and telling him the best which made the ex-ranger grin like an idiot. He might hate the damn man sometimes but he was still Tommy Oliver and let's face it his legacy: yeah it was awesome! _**'Dino Thunder: Power up Ha!" **_Despite seeing the other rangers morph a few times over his role a command centre Dustin couldn't help but notice that when Tommy morphed it was different than when the younger ranger's did-it was natural for him.

'**Black Brachio Ranger: Thomas Oliver Activated'**

Dustin grinned as the computers signalled that Tommy was now and forever the black ranger and once again a part of a team once again "Brachio ranger welcome to the team" he said and gave Haley a grin which she returned before pulling up the other ranger stats.

If someone had told him a two weeks ago that he would now be a power ranger with Dr O as his mentor and now Black ranger Conner probably would have just smirked at him and then walked off, but from the way Dustin had describe it as well as Dr O's legacy video the power had chosen him not the other way round and that made all the sore muscles and shocking revelations about Dustin and Haley just that little bit easier to deal with. Of course Dustin being an ex-ranger was awesome now he could go to someone other than his science teacher with his problems.

Chuckling to himself and shaking his head Conner entered Cyberspace and looked up just in time to see a boy in a white shirt holding a tray just seconds from walking into him. Too late to stop it happening Conner reacted instantly when the collision happened. When the boy was falling back his arm shot out to wrap around his waist and his other hadn shot forward and caught the tray of drinks making sure there were no spills-got to love those heightened reactions.

Looking down to the boy he had just saved Conner gave him a sweet grin when he saw the shock in his eyes and if he looked really close he saw gratitude. The boy had tan skin and inky black locks and had a boyish look to him that made Conner just want to hold him a little longer, but the applause of the customers in the store broke him out of that thought process and he straightened up releasing his hold the boy at the same time.

"Thank you, I'm here all week" he said placing the drinks on the correct table before turning around and handing the tray back to the young boy who was now blushing just that little bit which made him look cuter than before. "Hey how are you?"

The boy looked at him and smiled making him smile back before he answer in a soft voice "I'm good, thankful actually I really didn't need to clean that up" he said wincing as if he could just imagine the mess his spill would have made and when the red ranger envisioned the same thing he winced as well-yeah it wouldn't have been pretty.

Trying to get their minds off what could have been Conner held out his hand at gave the boy one of his charming grins "Hey I'm Conner McKnight" he said happily.

Glancing at the hand and then up at him the other boy reached out taking his hand sending sparks throughout his body and gave him a happy smile before speaking "Hi there Conner: I'm Trent Fernandez"

Pulling his hand back Conner knew that meeting this boy had been for a reason and if the way his body was reacting maybe meeting this boy could be the only normal thing in his life while he you know saved the world and all-but knowing his luck it might not work out that well but he was willing to give it a try anyway-although maybe he should just try for friends that might work out just a little better.

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><p><strong>Reviews are welcomed with love.<strong>


	5. Drago's Obsession: Tyranno

_**Hello faithful readers sorry this took so long but I've been planning the later chapters and got really engaged in where this is going. Any way in the time it has taken me to finish this chapter one Lonewolfgirl was able to guess Dustin's new ranger color correctly so congratulations to her. Now thank you to everyone following this so far you are my driving force to keep going-here we are. **_

_**Chapter 5**_

Sometime life is funny: sometimes life works every way and any way you want it but then there are the times when you could just swear that life was out to get you. Dustin looked around him at the ugly monster that was attacking the park he had stopped in and then over at Trent who was turning as white as the jacket he was wearing: really life sucked. He was here at ground zero while the monster was attacking and not at the command centre where he should have been to alert the rangers, why couldn't the monster have waited like five minutes.

The monster growled and signalled him out making Dustin sigh and turn to give Trent his book bag, they didn't say anything but Trent did give him a pleading look and Dustin was once again forcefully reminded that he wasn't one of his old ninja students and he sure as hell wasn't one of the dino rangers, he was just a boy who he worked with and looked up to him so he gave the boy a calming grin before he ran into the jungle gym.

Smiling as he ran circles around the monster Dustin took a long breath and flipped backwards so his feet hooked onto the monkey bars and he was able to swing himself up onto the top making the slow monster look around dumbly. The ninja master grinned this was just too good it was like breathing for the first time in a while, it might not being a ranger but he could feel the power of earth he was blessed with coursing through his veins and he used all his ninja skills to flip off the top of the bars and kick the monster in the face.

Holding his hands at the ready he made a come on motion with his hand and preformed a spinning kick sending the monster flying-sometimes being a ninja master was just damn awesome. But one drawback to being a ninja master was the fact that his attacks while effective weren't really doing that much damage-although the rangers should have gotten their by now!. The monster gurgled something before firing his weird tail weapon and Dustin was forced to use his Earth power to hide under the dirt to save his skin.

He knew that using his ninja powers would come back and bite him in the but because if Trent saw that he'd have a lot of questions but hey he didn't want to get hit so eh. Taking a deep breath the centre himself he used all his training to shoot up into the air and slam his foot into the monster's face sending it into the slide where it stayed. A loud roar alerted him to the ranger's presence and with an alarmed look at the monster he quickly ran over to Trent who thankfully had his eyes squeezed shut almost as if he was scared to look at what was going to happen to his friend-he hadn't seen!

Reaching out to lightly touch Trent's shoulder he gave the boy a warm smile and pressed a finger to his lip when he was about to speak and pointed to the four power rangers that were now facing off against the monsters their own attacks dealing a little more damage than his own. Trent pulled his arm to his chest and Dustin could only imagine how the boy was feeling, for as long as he could remember he had never been scared of a fight as a bystander or actual fighter. As a kid he had always been a good dodger something he had been famous for at the wind academy, then when he was ten he had become an earth student meaning he had the ninja skills to defend himself, then he became a power ranger and now he was a Maui Thai student.

Turning to give him a warm smile Dustin watched as the Zords were called and grinned when he realised it must have been Haley who had activated it and not for the first time since he had met her Dustin was so glad he knew her and was in her good graces because that girl would be saving their lives a lot in the future if the way this fight was anything to go by. Once the monster exploded in a shower of sparks-seriously why did they always do that?-Dustin pulled Trent to his feet and pulled them the two of them out of the park and towards Cyberspace where he sat the boy down and gave him a hot cup of tea which he accepted happily. Glancing around the cafe Dustin couldn't help but notice how busy it was and let out a tired sigh as he moved behind the counter an plastered a big grin on his face as he began to work ignoring the fact he had two college assignments he needed to finish: hey he owed Haley she saved his life.

After a few moments of watching him just sit there shaking Dustin sent Trent home to rest and just continued to work happily, there was something about doing things with his hands that made him just that little bit more relaxed. When the ranger walked into the cafe half an hour later Dustin quickly scanned them for injuries something that had become his unofficial job. It had started when Conner had been banged up pretty badly and needed help and he had tended to his wounds and then Kira the same the next day and Ethan again the same day, and now he was the one the rangers went to for all their first aid. It was kind of cute how quickly they latched onto him, when Kira found out he could sing and play instruments-well he was sort of scared of her now-Conner had dragged him out to play soccer not knowing that with his Brazilian father and ninja skills not even he could stop him and Ethan was always asking him questions about how he built the bio Zords.

After making sure they didn't have any pressing injuries he walked over to them and gave him big proud grins which they all beamed at-seriously was his opinion that big a deal to them?-and rubbed his hands together "hey guys how are you?" he asked arching an eyebrow "I mean I saw the coolest thing today"

"Oh...yeah" Conner asked his voice trying to sound curious but failing to making Dustin grin seriously he needed to work with them about their lying and covers-a year of lying and covering for Kelly when he Hunter and Blake needed to bail sort of made him an expert.

Seeing the ex-ranger grin and then cross his arms the other rangers knew they weren't in trouble-although it was beyond Dustin why they thought he'd be mad they did nothing wrong! "Yeah I got to see the Power Rangers in action saved mine and Trent's life"

Hearing the other boy's name Dustin watched as Conner seemed to perk up a little and he had to stop himself from laugh so damn hard, the kid acted like he had when someone mentioned Hunter. "Where is Trent?" Kira asked looking around "Shouldn't he be working too?"

Dustin shook his head and then rubbed the back of his neck sadly "Nah...He was really shaken, I had to fight before you guys came remember" he said lowly so that no one could hear him "I guess he was afraid I'd get hurt"

"And are you?"

Grinning at Ethan's question he shook his head and poked the boy in the forehead giving him an amused smirk "You forget blue boy: master ninja" he said proudly and then straightened up giving each of them critical looks "But are you guys alright?" he still remembered when Conner tried to hide a twisted wrist from him-seriously do all red rangers have to be so damn self sacrificing?

The rangers grinned and shook their head and Dustin could see that they were happy that they were finally able to get through a battle without being injured. He could still remember how proud he felt when that happened and now they would understand that everything gets just that little bit easier when they just stuck with it. Grinning at them happily Dustin moved over to the juice bar and leant on the bench giving them each expectant looks, they had come here for something and he did have work to do and he would like to complete it before Haley returned.

In the end it was Conner who cracked first and Dustin could only smile, all red rangers were so predictable: loyal to a fault. "Dr O wants you to go on a night dig tonight: says there is some interesting energy coming from a certain part of the forest" he said and then shrugged "We didn't want to tell you because we think you're working too hard"

"Conner!" Kira shouted and then sighed crossing her arms "You weren't supposed to tell him that" and there was the famous yellow pout.

Dustin just chuckled and took her hand and gave her a thankful smile which made her smile right back before turning it on the other guilty rangers making them give him hesitant smiles of their own. "Guys I really appreciate what you were going to do for me" he said in a soft voice, he really did because yeah he got tired sometimes, because he did a lot in one day "But the thing you need to understand is that I'm okay"

"But how" Ethan gasped and the other two nodded making Dustin laugh "You do so much for us and then college and on top of that working here" he said gesturing around him "Do you even sleep?"

Nodding at all three of the blue ranger's 'questions' Dustin sighed and gave them all sad smiles "You guys I'm not gonna lie to you. I do get worn out but the fact is...I like doing all this for you" he said as his smile turning excited "I like tending to your wounds" he said shooting that part at Conner who grinned sheepishly "I like going to college and I like working here" he said happily.

The three rangers looked down flushing and Dustin chuckled as an idea came to him "How about we spend some time together tomorrow after school or after a battle and we do something non ranger related" he asked smiling at the shock on the other's faces "I suppose Tommy has told you that you three are bonded for life now?" and only when he got three nods did he continue "But the fact is your team is bigger than just the three of you guys now, and I like to think that I'm a part of that team"

"Of course you are" Kira said squeezing his hand happily "I'll be there" and the other two were quick to agree making Dustin smile, they might not be his team but maybe that was a good thing, maybe he didn't need his old team if he had the Dino's by his side.

That night once he had finished closing up the cafe much to a very thankful Haley's glee Dustin found himself donning his green and black digging gear and streaking out to met his mentor-hey he might not be an official ninja anymore but he still had the skills dammit!-in a muddy field out in a secluded forest just past Reefside. Watching Tommy organise their digging gear Dustin was once again so proud that the now black ranger had seen something in him to make him his student, because he knew that not everyone got a guy like Tommy Oliver to take them on.

"Hiya boss" He said walking over to him when he spotted the silver dino bracelet adorning the new ranger's wrist.

When he had heard what the morphers would look like he hadn't been able to let Tommy allow the rangers walk around with a dinosaur head on their wrist, so he had designed the bracelets to act as communicators and a disguise. He could still remember Tommy's shock when he presented him with the designs-it had been hilarious.

"Dustin good you made it" Tommy said as he saw his student in the faint sunlight that was quickly disappearing. "I had the strangest feeling that maybe the guys wouldn't tell you to come" Dustin grinned and shook his head when he took his spot next to Tommy in the mud.

"They say I work too hard" he said simply and then shoved his mentor into the mud "Although you probably say I don't work hard enough!"

The two of them laugh and Dustin was going to say something else but at that moment the moon swallowed up the sun and it was officially night time. When the sun had gone down completely a bright neon green glow began to shine from the mud and rock in front of Dustin making the ex-ranger freeze and just stare at it-what the hell was going. "Tommy!" he said unable to move, it was like chains had been bound around his wrists.

When the black ranger saw the glow he rushed over and dug through the rock and mud until he pulled out the source of the glow. It was a bright small green gem-one that they all knew really well-it was a dino gem. Tommy looked at Dustin in alarm who shook his head and smiled "Don't worry I didn't touch it"

"I thought that Mesogog had found all the dino gems" Tommy said in a soft voice as he sat in the mud next to him holding the small rough green gem on the palm of his hand.

Dustin nodded in agreement, they both had, when Tommy had found the black dino gem he had been sure that there was a white counterpart but as Tommy had just said they were sure Mesogog had possession of that as well. Where this green gem had come from they had no idea but they knew they couldn't let the dino mutant get his hands on it, the gem practically radiated power. "Come on let's get it back to the lab" he whispered and helped his mentor stand before taking a step away from the gem.

He didn't know what it was about the gem stone but just being near him made him get a headache, it was like something was scratching at his minds door and trying to shout but only managing a loud buzzing noise-it was really irritated him!. Loading all the equipment in the jeep only took a few moments and before the two of them knew what was happening they were speeding down the highway back towards the dino lab.

The next morning when the other rangers entered the dino lab Conner was shocked to see Dustin wearing a lab coat and magnification goggles while inspecting a small green stone that had a strange likeness to their own dino gems. Looking back at his teammates they saw that they too had similar looks of confusion on their faces that he was sure he had on his own face. Turning back to their quirky command centre operator he was about to say something to gain his attention when their mentor walked out of the Zord bay and shook his head a little making all their questions fall silent.

"Dustin how are you?" The black ranger asked going over to his number one student who looked up and shook his head and sighed "What no results?"

The growl that ripped itself from Dustin's throat scared the other rangers at the pure frustration and anger in the normally happy boy's voice "No that's the bloody problem isn't it: there are just so many results!" he said flopping down in his command centre chair rubbing at his temples. "I can't pin point the dino DNA in the gem's genetic makeup but I do know I can create a morphor similar to the Dino Thunder morphers within time"

Tommy nodded and put a hand on Dustin's shoulder glancing him a small smile "Hey come on calm down. Don't stress you and Hales will figure it all out in time" he said nudging his chin lightly.

Conner walked over to the glass case where the green gem laid and then looked down at his own gem that was embedded on the silver band on his wrist, "So this is another dino gem" he said looking up at Dustin who nodded and then grinned as a crazy idea popped into his head "dude that's awesome!"

"And pray tell why is it awesome?" Tommy asked in amusement as Dustin pulled his goggles off and ran his hands through his hair to loosen up the stiff sweaty locks.

The red ranger looked straight at Dustin and beamed happily making him tense up "Dude now that we have this gem Dustin can like officially join the team! As in be the green ranger" he said and the other rangers nodded in agreement but then frowned when Dustin laughed and shook his head. "What why not, you would be an awesome ranger!"

Dustin nodded and the inexperienced leader and then shrugged leaning back to relax just that little bit more "Conner, I know I'd make a good ranger but the fact is I don't want to be a ranger at this moment in time" he said shrugging "And besides if I did become the ranger I'd show you all up" he added with a wink making the others grin and roll their eyes.

But before the others could say anything else a sharp alarm rang through the dino lab and like a switch had been flipped Dustin's face lost all amusement and he spun around to the monitors and bought up a vid screen and froze when he saw what the monitor was showing him. A ranger, a white ranger...and by the looks of it he wasn't the nice kind of ranger. "Guess we Mesogog has found a little puppet" he growled as he began a bio scan of the white ranger.

Seeing the evil ranger was bringing up bad memories for Dustin who could still remember how vicious Hunter had been with him and him alone when he had worked for Lothor. Later on when Hunter had become good he had found out that his targeting had been on purpose because everything about Dustin had been personal for the crimson ninja and if this White ranger had made friends with any of the others he would fear for that ranger.

"Dustin you got anything?" Tommy asked coming up behind his chair

Dustin checked the screens and shook his head sadly "No sorry, looks like you're going into this one blind guys" he admitted sadly and turned around to face the rangers with a serious expression "But listen to me, Tommy and I have both had to deal with evil ninja's before, and this will be hard" he warned before turning back to the controls while Tommy gave them their orders.

When the black ranger flopped into the chair next to him and picked up the other headset Dustin gave him a sympathetic smile, guess the memories got back to the great multi ranger as well. Taking a deep breath he turned back to the screen and forgot everything that had been troubling him, he forgot the green dino gem, he forgot his bad memories and focused instead on his team that were running into a battle blindly with only the knowledge that their white ranger was evil.

Conner stared at the white ranger in confusion as he shot down and beat down each of his teammates like they were nothing but left him trapped underneath his raptor cycle. Why wasn't he dealing with him, he wasn't obsolete he was-according to Dr O the best out of the Dino ranger, but could that be the reason the white ranger wanted his teammates out of the way? Did he want to deal with him last?

'_**Conner you need to calm down! The white ranger has singled you out!' **_

The red ranger froze when he heard Dustin's voice blast into his ear, what the hell did that mean he had been singled out? Before he could say anything his cycle was heaved off him and the white ranger had gripped him around the throat hoisting him into the air in a hold that while made him unable to talk didn't choke him in the slightest. Now he understood what Dustin met by his earlier statement, because the white ranger sure as hell didn't do this to the other two who were now lying on the ground moaning in pain and he sure as hell didn't seem to be assessing them when he was beating them around.

"You interest me Red Ranger" the white ranger rasped making Conner's skin crawl, just the idea that he had piped any emotion from the evil ranger who held him scared him just a little more than he would be willing to admit. "You are not like the others" he murmured and Conner felt his anger flare at that, he might be the leader and the strongest but he was still a part of the team.

Thinking back to all the training Dr O had tried to give him he gathered his feet on the white ranger's chest and used it to flip out of the choke hold and land in a crouch a few steps away from the white ranger who just stood there watching and if Conner could see past that helmet he was sure it's wearing would be smirking at him. "Don't say that" he said angrily

"Oh but you just proved my point" the white ranger said walking up to him until his head was by his ear and he had a hand on his other shoulder "None of the others had that...skill you just showed" he purred and Conner grit his teeth at the reaction his body had to the voice: he would not lust after the bad guy!

Luckily for him Mesogog took that time to arrive with Zeltrax and stare at them with his cold lizard eyes "White Ranger" he rasped and Conner winced when he felt the other's grip tighten painfully on his shoulder "we have much to discuss"

The evil ranger snorted and Conner turned his head a little to stare into the ruby red visor in confusion-wasn't the white ranger working for Mesogog? "Yeah I think not buddy" the white ranger not moving from his spot in from of Conner and then added in a whisper so only Conner could hear it "We'll play again later my little T-Rex" and then used his shoulder to vault over his shoulder and rush into the forest.

"Shall I go after him master?" Zeltrax asked his distracted master in his cybernetic voice.

Mesogog shook his head and just stared at Conner who had tensed to the point where he was sure he would never be relaxed ever again "I shall be keeping an eye on you red ranger" he rasped evilly making Conner actually take a step back away from the evil dino lord "The white ranger is fascinated with you, it might work in my favour"

Conner wished that in that moment Dr O or Dustin was by his side, they probably would have been able to snark something back to him and made him feel less afraid but at that moment in time he wanted nothing more that to crawl into a hole and stay there so that Mesogog couldn't reach him that was how scared he was. The two evil warriors stared at him for a moment later before the same green light that signalled a teleportation appeared and when he blinked the two of them were gone.

The red ranger stood their frozen in shock and fear for what felt like hours that is until he felt a hand on his shoulder making him jump a foot in the air turning around to see that it was Dr O giving him a sad smile. "Dr O?"

His mentor smiled and nodded and behind him Conner could see Dustin helping Kira and Ethan onto the back of their raptor cycles and Conner suddenly realised that they had come to help them back to the lab. "Come on Conner let's get you back" Tommy said softly and lead his red ranger back to his red cycle and watched him carefully mount it.

Dustin smiled and swung himself up on the yellow raptor he had borrowed and gave the rangers a worried look, when he had seen the white ranger run off and Mesogog speak to Conner he had known that the three of them would need them, hell Kira and Ethan were barely holding onto their morphs as it were. "Come on follow us" he ordered as Tommy rode Conner's raptor up to his side and then kicked the bright yellow lizard off.

Once they were back at the Dino lab Tommy left the rangers with Dustin so that the younger man could fix them up and as the ex-yellow ranger worked on all their injuries the three of them were in totally silence that is until Dustin was checking over Conner and the young red ranger spoke for the first time since meeting the white ranger.

"The White ranger says he's going to find me" he whispered in a teary voice making Kira gasp and Ethan still while Dustin just stared at him waiting for him to continue "He said that I was interesting and that I was different to Kira and Ethan" he sobbed leaning his head on Dustin's shoulder as the other's boy's arms came around his back.

Dustin hummed softly rubbing Conner's back and then motioned the other two over before breaking the hug and taking one of Conner's hands in his own and Kira's in his other he decided now would be the time to start his bonding, sure it wasn't non-ranger related but his team needed him, they needed the cheer only a yellow-or in some cases a green-could give and at that moment Kira was just not in the frame of mind to be the heart of the team.

"Listen to me" he said seriously as Tommy watched from the doorway listening to Dustin speak to the rangers as an equal "Things are scary I know" he said to Conner who looked down at the floor "And things are going to get worse before they get better"

Tommy smiled sadly at Dustin's words, the only sad thing about what the ex-yellow was saying was that they were true, "But I need you guys to look at me" Dustin said on the verge of tears "You three are the bravest teenagers I've ever met" he said proudly "Conner not only did you face the white ranger once he'd taken out your teammates but you defended them even if you don't believe it"

"I froze!" The red ranger protested making Dustin shake his head.

"Listen to me! You three are a team, you guys would die for each other and I know it seems like you almost did today but I want you to look at each other" he ordered "Your are all still here aren't you: you survived! And you guys will beat this evil"

Kira looked down at her bandaged wrist and shook her head as tears jerked to the surface she really didn't want to cry she really didn't "How can you be so sure?" she whispered.

Instead of Dustin answering Tommy decided to step forward and laid a hand on his prodigy's shoulder giving his rangers a proud grin "Because you guys are the Power rangers" he said with an air of finality "And one thing I've learnt in all my years as a Ranger: is that we always win"

**Read and Review**


	6. Revealations

__**To all my valued and wonderful fans i thank you for reading and following this fic so closely, i know that it is only in the early stages what with it only being in it's sixth chapter and all but I am alerting to my followers i already have a squeal in the works and shall follow Dustin through several ranger lives-but that is long way off. **

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 6<strong>_

When he had first become a ranger Dustin and Dr O had warned him that Nightmares were a big part of the ranger lifestyle-even more so for a red ranger, this was something he didn't really take into consideration but now that he had been living his nightmares for the past week Conner could easily say that being the red ranger sucked! Ever since he had met the white ranger he had been having dreams so scary he had tried not sleeping for a few days-it didn't last very long because Dustin had caught on to his plan and knocked him out with sleeping pills.

Sighing tiredly the red ranger made his way to the dino lab for another round of training, he didn't know why he didn't super speed he had the power but he never used it, god knows Tommy used his invisibility enough he never knew if the man was watching him or not, it made him really nervous-the black ranger said it was to train up his senses and his reaction time-he and the others said it was because the black ranger had a hidden devious streak.

Jumping over a fallen log Conner thought about the green dino gem that was lying in its glass case innocently back at the base. He knew Dustin and Tommy were trying to find a perfect green ranger for it but he as the red ranger couldn't help but think that they already had found their green ranger in Dustin despite what the two senior rangers said. Dustin wore a hell of a lot of green and he had the skills to really fight on par with Dr O and he did everything for them besides put on the suit to morph.

He knew that Dustin had been close to his team before-even though he never speaks about them like ever-and maybe that was why he didn't want to morph for them, Conner stopped and looked at the floor in shock was Dustin afraid that by becoming a dino Ranger he would no longer have any tied to his old team? Was he afraid to forget them? If he did then he was being so stupid, his mentor and teacher was Tommy Oliver the damn multi-ranger and the guy who had been on more teams then Conner could ever hope to and yet Tommy talked about all of them all the time he even showed them his old morphers.

Conner sighed and shouldered his backpack a little higher, he knew that Dustin was meant to be a ranger again he just didn't know when or how he was going to tell Dustin that. When he had first met the ex-ranger he thought he knew what was stubborn but after meeting him he knew that he had been sorely mistaken because that damn guy could hold be as stubborn as a brick wall-it really was annoying.

Looking up at the secret entrance to the dino cave he waited for Dustin to let him in as he was sure that the young man was on command centre duty that afternoon-although their really didn't seem to be a time of the day when Dustin wasn't at the command centre or working on the zords or raptors-his thoughts were broken when the cave wall slide open and he smirked happily walking into the lab when he saw Dustin was once again studying the green dino gem.

Silently moving pass the busy techie h slid into the Zord bay and smiled up at his Tyranno zord that made a soft keening sound when it saw his operator. Everyone on the team knew that when Dustin was working on the dino gem no one was to distract him, even after two weeks of trying to figure it out Dustin had yet to figure out what type of dino gem it was, apparently the makeup while similar to his own Dino Thunder gem was just to different for him to use the same methods of study to analyse it so the young man had been trying everything he could to figure it out and it lead the boy staying up all hours waiting for results.

Another thing that Dustin had been doing contentiously was trying to create a morphor that would accept the damn gem, apparently the first one he had made had actually blown up in his face and now the boy was always in communication with some guy named Cam who he said was the guy who made all their tech stuff for when he was a ranger. Haley had found a green dino egg the other day and she was sure that it was going to be the zord for the green ranger but Dustin had said that the egg probably wouldn't hatch until the green ranger was found.

Tyranno roared softly and Conner leapt up to his Zords head and began stroking it happily, he really did love the fact he was the Tyrannosaurs Rex, all the cool rangers were the t-rex, first it was Jason who was just awesome and had been the original red ranger and then the next T-Rex ranger had been Rocky who he'd never had the pleasure of meeting but had heard him in the background of the call Dustin had made to Adam laughing hysterically when the other boy had told the black ranger about Tommy taking up the black ranger mantle so he figured that the guy had a good sense of humour.

"Hey boy" he whispered softly and happily "how you doing, have you been good for Dustin?"

Despite not wanting to be an actual ranger again Conner knew that out of everyone besides their operators and Tommy all the zords trusted Dustin the most. When he had asked Tommy why the black ranger had explained that Dustin had helped rear the zords and had built them the armour that decorated their bodies and took care of them when they were too tired to do it, when he was told that he had flushed with guilt until Dustin had told him he was happy to do it with his genuine grin.

Leaping down from the zords head Conner was about to head into the raptor room to see his red mount when suddenly Dustin walked into the zord bay his eyes cold hadn his face serious "Conner come with me" he said and turned around making Conner swallow in fear. He may not know Dustin that well but he did know that Dustin was only like that when something bad was happening.

Walking into the command centre the red ranger froze when he saw the white ranger on the main screen sitting on a chair all relaxed and at ease. "Ah Red ranger or shall we say Red ranger" the white ranger drawled making his skin crawl like it had the first time the white ranger had addressed him in their first confrontation.

"What do you want" he asked harshly as Dustin took his seat at the command centre his expression grave and just a little tired.

Mocking a hurt demeanour the white ranger held a hand to his heart "Ouch that hurt Conner, here I thought you and I had a connection" he said in a mock hurt voice that sent Conner's nerves on edge-seriously what was with this guy and pissing him off

"Yeah well you were wrong"

Dustin gave him a sharp glance and Conner looked down sadly, he knew that look, it meant that Dustin wanted him to control himself and be the ranger he needed to be and stop acting so impulsively. Looking back at the screen he saw the white ranger leaning forward entwining his fingers "I have a proposition for you" he said seriously.

"Oh?"

The white ranger nodded and Conner moved closer to the screen until he was standing right behind Dustin taking comfort in his calming presence, he got ticked off just looking at the white ranger so if he needed to talk to him about a deal he would need to be calm "Yes, it's come to my attention that you are trying to find out who I am" he said darkly and Conner nodded unable to get himself to speak "I'll show you"

"What are your terms" Dustin said for the first time since the white ranger had appeared on the screen his expression calm and his gaze steady and just watching him Conner felt a stab of jealously at how calm the ex-ranger was acting around the evil ranger although he hadn't been groped by this one had he?

The white ranger laughed and leant back again nodding "You're smart aren't you" he said and Conner knew if they could see into the helmet the white ranger would be smirking like the cat that just ate the bird. "I want to meet with Conner" he said shooting the red ranger a glance before turning back to Dustin "He can be in morph but he is to be alone"

Conner gaped openly at the white ranger's demands: was he stupid they would never agree to that...would they? Glancing at Dustin he saw his torn expression and knew that yes they would so taking a deep breath he spoke up "I'll agree to it if Dustin is able to moniter us from the command centre"

"Of course" the white ranger said sounding pleased with his answer, well of course he would be he just agreed to meet him without the other just so he could find out his secret identity "One hour the warehouse by the docks: don't be late" he said before the screen went blank.

Conner sat in the command centre frozen after what he had just seen, his team was arguing around him, something about him going off alone and could have been killed but all he could think about was watching the white ranger power down as seeing Trent staring back at him for those few moments before the White ranger helmet was back. He still couldn't believe that Trent-the boy he liked-was the one trying to kill his team, it was absurd. If he hadn't been the one to see it happen he wouldn't have believed it for a moment but the thing was Trent had chosen him to reveal himself to and he did see it happen so he couldn't say it was fake: He could still remember what happened.

_Conner rode into the warehouse in full morph and dismounted his raptor cycle carefully glancing around for any sign of the white ranger. He knew that the evil ranger liked him or was obsessed with him but that didn't mean he trusted him. In fact he was more on edge because of that reason, turning around once more he jumped back when he saw the white ranger lounging on a stack of crates looking as relaxed as if he was meeting with a friend._

"_Hello Conner" the ranger rasped and Conner closed his eyes pleading with every god he knew of that he didn't react in the way he had the times before. He didn't know what it was about the white ranger but every time he spoke in that raspy voice his palms would sweat and he would get hot and flush. _

_Unwilling to let his enemy see the effect he had on him Conner held his head high and walked over to the white ranger who leapt of the crates to stand directly in front of him only inches away from him. When had first seen the white ranger he had been a little annoyed at how cool his suit looked compared to their own but staring into the white and red helmet he just felt fear and a little sick. _

"_I'm here" he said in a voice that sounded a lot stronger than he felt. _

_The white ranger laughed and circled around him until he was pressed up against him back making Conner tense up, seriously what was this guy's problem he didn't look that good in the damn suit did he? "Yes you are" the raspy voice said and this time Conner couldn't hold back his shiver and he silently swore because he was pressed up against the damn guy wasn't he!_

"_We had a deal" he whispered as the white gloved hands ran down his right arm making his swallow nervously "I've kept my end of the deal" he said and turned around so he was looking right into the visor of the white helmet "So keep yours" _

_As it turned out the white ranger seemed to be a man of his word because he pulled him close so that their whole bodies where touching even their helmets were resting against each other and Conner could only guess that from the outside it looked like they were embracing each other passionately. Taking a shuddering breath Conner put his arms around the white ranger's waits and leant into the strong body willingly. _

_He knew it was wrong but Dustin was the only one watching and he knew he'd understand-he was doing this to find out who the white ranger was-or so he told himself but at the same time he liked this guy he didn't know why but when the white ranger gave him all this attention he felt oddly comfortable with it. "Please" he whispered not really knowing if the other heard it. _

_But moments later the suit shimmered away and he was starring into two chocolate eyes he knew well, he should know them he had been starring into their owner's eyes all the time lately when they saw each other. The smirk on the others face made him sick because the person he was holding against him, the person he was pressed up against was the one person he would have never suspected at all: the white ranger was Trent. _

"_Hi there Conner" The boy said not moving an inch in fact pressing closer-if that was possible-and trailing his hands down his back making his eyes flutter shut and shiver slightly "Love this look on you" _

_Conner looked into the dark eyes and he watched as the suit shivered into existence once more and he was gazing into the white ranger helmet once more. He felt frozen how could it be happening how could the guy he liked how could the boy he had been going to ask out despite all the rangering craziness be the same ranger who he had been fighting against and being terrified of because of his strange obsession with him? _

"_Trent" he whispered and then had to hold back a sob when the white helmet nodded slightly._

"_My little T-Rex" the white ranger purred and knowing it was Trent under the white suit only made his reaction just that little bit worse "We're going to have so much fun" _

When the White ranger had left him frozen in the warehouse it had been Dustin that pulled him back into reality and when he had arrived back at the base he had seen a livid Dr O with Kira and Ethan by his sides while Dustin just sat in his command centre starring at them blankly.

"Guys!" Dustin shouted getting the teams attention from his seat next to Conner, he had watched the boy for the last few moments go from shocked to distraught and he knew the rangers bickering wasn't helping anything "Enough we have bigger things to deal with then Conner going off alone"

Tommy nodded and Dustin relaxed a little and stood up so he could talk to all of them, he knew he should have told them all about his Trent theory but he couldn't say anything anymore because he would be smashed and he didn't need it at that moment in time. "Go home all of you" he ordered but looked Tommy in the eyes so that he stayed "We've just learned something big and Conner needs to rest we can continue to discuss this in the morning"

The other rangers nodded and even Conner seemed to have gotten back to reality finally and had nodded as well. Kira helped her leader down the steps and then lead him out of the Dino lab while Tommy just continued to stare at his student in confusion. He knew Dustin wanted to talk to him but he couldn't figure what about, they had bigger problems to deal with than a college assignment so he knew it wasn't about school. Dustin saw his mentor's questioning gaze and then flopped back into his hair putting his face into his hands as the day finally caught up with him.

He knew he should stop studying the green gem as much as he was but he was just so fascinated by it, the green stone was unlike anything he had ever seen and he wanted to find out its secrets. But in doing so it was making him exhausted and now it had all hit him. "Trent is the white ranger" he whispered and Tommy nodded.

The black ranger moved to sit next to his student and saw for the first time just how tired he looked, Dustin's skin was paling he had dark rings under his eyes and his hands were shaking. "Are you okay?" he asked placing a hand on Dustin's shoulder.

Dustin shook his head and leant against Tommy and breathed in his comforting scent, he was just so tired, maybe if he fell asleep even for a few moments he wouldn't get in too much trouble he thought closing his eyes and slumping so his head was in his mentor's lap. Glancing down at Dustin's peaceful form Tommy smiled warmly, he couldn't wake him Dustin needed his sleep he knew that the boy was up at all hours trying to find out what the green gem was and trying to create a dino morphor for it but he also knew that the boy had been running himself haggard.

Smiling at Dustin the older ranger moved him slightly until he had Dustin curled up in his arms and walked them into his house and away from the dino lab. Moving through the house he ended up in his huge bedroom and laid the boy down on his bed where he began to take his shoes off. He smiled as Dustin curled up on the bed and felt a burst of affection rise in his chest as he watched him, when he had first met the boy he had been like a light but now he really knew Dustin he could easily say that Dustin Brooks was basically the whole reason he was a ranger again. It was because of him that he was going to go and do something he really shouldn't, it was because Dustin was practically his son that he was going to go face Trent: he was going to go and meet the white ranger.

When Dustin opened his eyes next he was shocked when he saw the sunlight streaming into his mentor's bedroom. He didn't remember falling asleep in here, he remembered falling asleep on Tommy's lap down in the dino lab, smiling when he suddenly realised that the black ranger had carried him here he made his way through his morning rituals before heading down to the dino lab where he was sure Tommy was.

But when he got there instead of seeing his mentor smiling and laughing with Haley and the other rangers he saw the rangers their helmets discarded staring at him sadly. He knew something was going on and gave them a stern look, he didn't even say anything they knew he was in charge which was why they three of them moved to the sides revealing his mentor: Tommy encased in Fossilised Amber. Gazing at the trapped black ranger Dustin felt his heart stop and his eyes went wide and he was only able to manage a single word.

"Who"

Conner looked at his feet and Dustin looked at him waiting for the red ranger to speak up "Trent...the white ranger did it" he explained and turned to Haley who played the video feed dated early that morning "Dr O went and faced off against him trying to get him to come to our side when that happened" he said as Dustin watched his mentor become fossilised.

Dustin sat down at the command centre and put his head in his hands and let out a tried sigh he needed to think, but at the same time he really didn't want to be alone with his thoughts because sometimes that was just as scary as not knowing anything, seeing her young friend Haley motioned for the rangers to leave and started for the exit herself but shook her head when Conner tried to follow. "You stay he'll need to talk to someone" she explained when Conner gave her a questioning look.

Looking at the amber Dustin couldn't believe what the white ranger did, he stopped Tommy so easily-yeah he hadn't been expecting it and it was too late to react by the time the beam was fired but just the fact that Trent had gotten Tommy so easily made his skin crawl. When Conner sat next to him he hardly reacted, he knew the red ranger felt guilty, he had basically had a touchy feely session with the white ranger the previous afternoon when he had clutched Trent to him but Dustin didn't blame him.

"Did you know" he said suddenly grinning as he realised that Tommy would expect him to help Conner be the leader he was supposed to be "When I was a new ranger I fell for our evil ranger" he said simply glancing at Conner out the corner of his eyes "I pretty much loved him"

The red ranger gasped at Dustin and just stared making him chuckle "what happened" he asked desperately, he needed to know if it ever got easier-being attracted to the bad guys: yeah so not a good feeling made you feel bad and good at the same time and the headache you got from it-not fun!

Dustin smiled he thought of Hunter back at Blue Bay and shrugged "It hurt when I found out he was the bad guy" he said smiling at Tommy "Because I felt like everything he'd told me when we weren't in battle was all fake, I thought he had been lying to me using me" he explained happy to be telling someone this-someone besides Tommy.

"But when I found him when he had turned good, he was so guilty because of what he had done" he said remembering a time that felt like decades ago when a soaking wet Hunter turned up on his doorstep on the verge of tears looking so lost. "I knew that despite everything he'd done I would always help him. I got him through everything and we may not have dated but he and I did become the best of friends"

Conner stared at Dustin and smiled at him he really was the nicest person he knew "Are you saying that I should try to get Trent to be good again?" he asked and then frowned when Dustin shook his head "Then why tell me all that"

The ex-ranger grinned and gave Conner a big grin "Because I know that Trent is going to turn good later down the track" he explained "The power won't let you stay evil. And when Trent does snap out of his little evil mindset he is going to need you more than ever" he said laying a hand on Conner's shoulder "He's going to need a friend"

Smiling at Conner once more Dustin turned back to Tommy and could just envision the proud smile that the black ranger would be giving him. He was getting pretty good at the inspirational speeches, who knows maybe he really was Tommy's legacy, one thing he was sure of thought was he'd never wear any more colours-he liked being known as the first male yellow ranger!

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	7. Rapto Ranger Activate!

_**Right here it is finally the chapter a lot of you have been waiting for, i gotta say this was harder to write then I thought it was going to be but hey i did it right. Now once again thank you my little reviewers all your comments are taken into consideration and really thought hard about so thank you for all your input. **_

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 7<strong>_

Amber sucked: normally it was hard and horrible to examine but Dustin had decided that fossilized amber was ten times if not twenty times worse that it's more modern counterparts. He and Haley had spent the last two days trying everything they could to get Tommy out of his amber prison and unfortunately had been unable to come up any results. One thing that had gone right though was after two weeks of stress and sleepless nights he had finally finished all his work on the green dino gem.

The night after Tommy had been found in the amber he had ra one last test of the gem in hopes of getting any results anything at all because any good news would have been better than nothing and when he got the results back it was almost as if his prays had been answered because he had gotten the information he needed to. As if turned out the green dino gem happened to be the Green Raptor gem and with that information he had left Haley with the task of freeing his mentor and had focused on building a morphor for the raptor ranger that they still had to find.

Despite being so focused on his work Dustin knew he still had a team to help so he made sure that his rangers were always in a good mindset and made sure to remind them that he and Haley wouldn't stop until their mentor was free. He liked to think he was doing a good job in leading the team but he also knew he was no Tommy, he knew he made mistakes and he didn't want to let his mentor down as he owed to much to him. But he still put on a brave smile and led the team to the best of his ability.

Everything seemed to be going okay, Conner was becoming a true red ranger, the team was getting closer and closer every day and they always came out of top at the end of the day, there was nothing really worrying except for one small detail: Trent. Since revealing himself to Conner that day it seemed that the white ranger had been out to stop the other rangers as harshly and quickly as possible. It didn't help that Trent's dino gem was of the same series as Tommy's which meant it was older and a hell of a lot stronger than the dino thunder gems.

Conner had approached him about the problem and had mentioned that they needed the green ranger up and running ASAP, and Dustin knew all of this. He knew that Trent was targeting Kira and Ethan because he wanted them out of the way so he could get to Conner with ease, because Trent knew morphed Conner didn't really stand much of a chance and no amount of training that he gave them was really going to help.

"Any luck?" Haley asked as he got off the phone from talking to Rocky.

Shaking his head he put the phone down and rubbed the back of his neck, he knew that finding a green ranger was going to be hard, but he had just hoped that Rocky and Adam would have had a student that had some inkling of being ranger material but when he asked the blue Zeo ranger he had been told that none of his martial arts students had any ranger attributes. "No Rocky can't find anyone worthy enough" he said sadly as he gazed at Haley sadly.

Haley bit her lip and looked from the green morphor and then at Dustin making the ex-ranger sigh he knew what she was not saying. She was trying to show him that maybe he should take the morphor for his own because he already was a ranger which he had already told her would never happen. It wasn't because he didn't want to be a ranger again because the idea of putting on the suit again was as thrilling as actually doing so. But he didn't want to be a dino ranger he didn't fit in there: it wasn't him.

"Haley no" he said moving away from his boss to stand at the control panel where he watch the computer run scan after scan on the surrounding area. "We've already talked about that"

But the other woman wasn't to be deterred she grabbed Dustin's hand and looked him in the eyes he gaze sadly resigned as she remembered when she first met the quirky boy who helped her build the dino lair: she had known back then that he wasn't meant for bigger things he was meant to be a ranger again "Dustin you and I both know that gem is meant for you" she said looking at the morphor he had spent a good two days creating "Stop fighting it"

The ex-ranger didn't say anything and just looked at the morphor lying on the table innocently, he knew that Haley was right, just like Tommy had said the first time he had morphed the dino gems aren't chosen that are the ones that chose their wielders and he had been drawn to the green stone since he found it lying in the mud all those weeks ago. He had felt like the gem was his and maybe that was why he wasn't giving the search his totally focus but he was also just a little scared to be a ranger again: even more so that it was Tommy's team.

The dino rangers chose that moments to rush in talking all at once about how Trent had turned up at Conner's house and said that by the end of the week they'd be all dead and a bunch of other things that he hadn't been able to catch and suddenly Dustin got the feeling that this was how Cam felt when he started to babble on and on without waiting for any answers. Sucking in a deep breath he held up a hand making all of them stop talking and pointed at Conner "Talk"

The red ranger took a deep breath and looked at his teammates before he started talking "Okay. I was hanging out with Kira and Ethan when we all decided to go to my house because well...it's really big" he said weakly and Dustin understood without and parents his house would feel pretty big "But when we got there Trent was already there waiting"

Dustin watched as Conner tensed as he said this and sighed, he knew it would happen Hunter had done the same thing to him when he had been evil, had turned up at his house and threatened him and followed him to the motorcross track most days; it really did scare him so he could understand how Conner was feeling. "Okay keep going" he ordered

"Right well I confronted him because well...he doesn't hurt me that badly when he fight so I wanted to protect Ethan and Kira" Conner explained and when Dustin looked back at the other two dino rangers he saw their slightly annoyed faces and knew this slightly annoyed them. "And he said to me that in a week's time he'll have gotten rid of the others so he and I could...play"

Kira took her leaders hand and gave it a squeeze hoping to convey her support in physical form, she had known that being the one Trent revealed himself to would have affected the red ranger somewhat but looking at the normally confident leader she saw something that made her scared: she saw just how frightened Conner really was by the situation. Dustin saw this too and then put his hand on Conner's shoulder.

"Conner listen to me very carefully" he said softly making not only the red ranger but the blue and yellow ranger look at him "Nothing is going to happen to you or the others" he said very seriously, and couldn't help but wonder when he became the serious one.

The red ranger bit his lip and looked at him with such a lost expression that the ex-ranger felt his heart go out to the lost and scared ranger "How can you be so sure about that. We can't beat him in battle and he's getting stronger!" he said almost crying.

Dustin tightened his grip and shook his head making all three of their protests fall silent, he was their mentor now, he had to be the strong one, and for the first time since Tommy had been fossilised the ex-yellow knew just why his teacher became their mentor: he wanted to keep them safe. "Nothing is going to happened to you because I'm not going to let it"

The three rangers stared at Dustin in awe and took the strength he was giving them, they didn't know when Dustin's approval and support had become so important to them but they did know that now without Dr O telling them everything would work out they had relied on Dustin just as they used to on their black ranger and that the young college student was becoming just as much a mentor as the great Tommy Oliver was.

Suddenly the alarms rang out through the lair and Dustin turned his attention to Haley who was bringing up the video feed revealing that Trent was the reason the alarms were going off. Turning back to his red ranger he saw the determination and fire shinning through in the young red ranger's eyes and gave them a proud smile. "Go save the world" he ordered.

Sitting down next to Haley he shared a grin with her before picking up the headset as his rangers-because until Tommy was de-fossilised they were his rangers-raced out to fight their rival and couldn't help but feel that everything would be okay. Haley smiled at Dustin and saw the pride shinning from him and turned back to her screens and couldn't help but think that if Tommy was there to watch his prodigy he would have burst from pride.

Everything had been going well, the rangers had managed to divert Trent's attention onto them and had been fighting well as a team until Trent had trapped Conner and took on the blue and yellow rangers. Dustin watched in horror as the white ranger slash through them like they were nothing, he watched as Conner screamed for Trent to stop as he slammed Ethan into a tree, how much pain was Conner going through having to watch his teammates being beaten. Glancing over at Haley he saw the silent tears running down her face and then stood up making a decision.

He knew what he had, he was scared but watching his rangers struggle against a foe they couldn't beat he knew he couldn't sit around and just do nothing not when he knew he had the power to fix it. That was why he picked up the Green raptor ranger and strapped it on his wrist before activating the commands "Activate Dino Gem ranger fusion" he ordered and gasped when suddenly his vision went green and he saw a bright glowing Green raptor flash through his mind.

'**Green Rapto Ranger: Dustin Brooks Activated' **

Haley spun around in the chair and saw Dustin standing behind her with the morphor on his wrist and saw the fury lit up in his gaze, she gave him a nod and turned back to the screens bringing up his bio stats so he could complete the bonding process 'Begin Morphor bio fusion!" he commanded and grit his teeth as he felt the gem in his morphor bond to him completely sealing his fate.

Looking up on the screen just in time to watch Trent kick Kira into a tree and then step on her back when she was lying face down in the dirt Dustin knew it was time to morph and took a breath before glancing at Tommy just hoping he wouldn't have a heart attack when he woke up and found his student as the last Dino ranger. "Raptor Dino power: unleash!" he commanded as the words came to him naturally why a tiny voice in the back of his head told him his command was different "Ha!"

Watching as her friend was enveloped in a bright green light Haley smiled when she saw him once the light faded. He looked like a cross between Trent and Tommy but looked sleek like Conner, on his chest was the same Dino Thunder symbol the others had only his had longer more curved claws on them. Dustin gave her a nod waved to her in salute before rushing into the raptor room and leaping on Conner's red beast. It growled happily as it knew it was about to run and when Dustin urged it forward it shot forward with all the speed of the wind.

Trent laughed as he threw Ethan down and waited for them to get back up, when neither the yellow or blue ranger was able to stand back up he walked over to Conner and stroked his helmet making Conner jerk his head back making him laugh at the firey spirit of the red ranger. "Come now Conner where is the one who held me two days ago" he asked

"He's fading away everytime you hurt my friends" Conner hissed and tried to access his super dino powers so he could break free of the chains Trent had trapped him in earlier. Watching the white ranger beat around his friends had probably been one of the single hardest things he had been forced to sit through knowing that he could help if he was just free but unable to get free had made it so hard, he didn't know how Dustin was reacting back at the lair but he was sure it was badly.

The white ranger looked over at the two still forms of the Tricera and Ptera ranger and shrugged and made a bored snort "They were boring" he said simply "You on the other hand...you have such spirit" he said happily "You always did even when I met you as Conner and before I knew you were him"

"Get away from me!" Conner yelled when the white ranger squeezed his shoulder, he knew he sounded desperate but he didn't want the creep anywhere near him, what he wanted was to crawl over to his fellow rangers and cry for them.

'_**Conner help is on its way' **_the red ranger froze when he heard Haley's voice come over the comm. Channel what did she mean help was coming?

Before he could dwell on it anymore he heard what sounded like a screeching roar that reminded him of their raptors that made him glance around. Trent froze and looked around for the source of the sound, he knew that the dino thunder black ranger was already taken care of and he knew their wasn't a final member yet-something that made them really easy so he was just a little confused as to what was going on.

"Rapto blades!" Trent looked up just in time to have a flash of green past him and for pain to explode from his chest making him scream in pain and stumble away from Conner and clutch his wound.

The red ranger gasped when the green blur stopped moving and he was looking at the final member of his team: he was staring at his green ranger-and he looked awesome. This new ranger had two long curved Scimitar like blades in his hands, he had the same sort of shoulder guards that Dr O and Trent were adorned with but his very smaller more subtle and he looked sleek and fast. His helmet had two crests on the top and he had the same gold detailing Dr O had.

"No way" he whispered in awe.

The white ranger straightened and glared at the newcomer, he couldn't move that fast and his dino animal was the damn dragon who the hell did this guy think he was? "And who the hell are you?" he asked savagely as he stepped past Conner.

"Green Rapto Dino Thunder Ranger" the new ranger said spinning his blades threateningly "And I suggest you leave before I get really mad" he warned.

Conner didn't actually think that it would work, he and the others had threatened Trent enough to know this, but this guy hadn't been fighting his comrades all afternoon and this guy looked like had some moves, and not just any moves it looked like he some real moves. Trent seemed to have the same ideas because his hands clenched into fists and he resheathed his Drago blade before pointing at his new rival.

"We will meet again Green ranger!" he said as he faded from view.

The new ranger didn't move for a few moments he just stood there watching for any signs that Trent would return, but when he was sure he wouldn't be coming back he leapt to Conner's side and used one of his blades to break the chains binding his body. "You did well" the new ranger muttered and put a hand on his shoulder when he sat up "You have a strong will: most people would have broken by now"

The red ranger just watched in total shock as his green teammate wandered over to Kira and roused her before going over to Ethan and rousing him. The two now conscious rangers seemed to be too shocked to speak because they were just staring at the green ranger not saying a word so Conner decided to speak for them-he was supposed to be the team leader after all or well that's what Dustin and Dr O kept telling him.

"Dustin found our Green ranger" he said excitedly and missed how tense the new ranger had become for a moment before he became relaxed again. "He said he would but...wow you look awesome"

With a grace that the other rangers only wished they had the green ranger put his blades away and stood proudly for them to inspect, "Thank you it feels good to know you trust me" he said lowering his head "I just wish I could demorph"

Kira stepped forward and looked at their new teammate and rested a hand on his shoulder "Hey don't worry I sure Haley will be able to fix you" she said brightly as she powered down "have you met her yet?"

The new ranger nodded and then clicked his fingers like an idea had only just hit him "That's right Haley told me to tell you to go home. She and Dustin want to test me privately" he explained "I'm sorta shy"

Conner grinned and powered down himself, it felt good to have the green ranger there, it felt right in fact his team felt complete-dismissing the fact that one of them was an evil obsessed freak, one couldn't power down and the other was fossilised he felt like his team was perfect. Clapping happy at being able to go home early Conner rallied his team together telling Ethan and Kira they were going to his house so that they could rest and relax.

Once the rangers were out of sight Dustin let out a relieved breath and accessed the comm. Channel that Haley was binging like crazy "Yes Haley?" he asked as he wandered over to Conner's red raptor that nuzzled him happily when he saw him. It wasn't that strange that the raptor accepted him so quickly, he had helped Tommy rear the thing and now that he had its species dino DNA coursing through him it actually made a lot of sense that the raptor let him ride him without any fuss.

'_**You've got a lot of explaining to do when you get back' **_

Dustin grinned and kicked the raptor to set it off, he understood what she meant, he had lied to the ranger he had hid his true identity from them. He knew he would be expected to have a good reason but the fact of the matter was he didn't. He had no clue as to why he didn't tell his new team who he was, he didn't know if it was because he was still holding a part of his Ninja Storm family with him or what, all he knew was that when he told Cam he took his colour...the samurai was gonna flip.

When he arrived back at the dino lair and made sure Conner's raptor was comfortable in its pen he strode into the main area where Haley was waiting for him with an expectant look on his face and her hands on her hips. He had known he was going to be in a bit of trouble but he hadn't thought he would be in this much trouble. The last time he had seen her look like that was when Tommy had blown up her freezer at the Cyber Cafe, he had been banned from ever helping their again and now she was looking at him like that.

"Ah hi Haley" he said in a hesitant voice as he power down.

The woman arched an eyebrow at him and he let out a tiny sigh "I don't have a reason" he said softly and looked down at his own morphor bracelet on his wrist that held the bright green dino gem, his gem the gem he found and worked with.

"You don't have any reason at all?" Haley asked softly and Dustin didn't look up making Haley sigh as she figured out what was wrong: the damn boys insecurities had flared back up: again! "Dustin I know this is quite an adjustment for you I mean you were a wind ninja for a long time, and you'll always be a wind ninja, no one can take that away from you" she began putting a hand on his shoulder.

"But you are now a part of another team" she whispered pulling the boy into a warm motherly hug because deep down Dustin really was still just another kid "You're a Ninja Storm ranger yes, but you are also a Dino Thunder ranger" she said pulling back to brush some bangs out of his eyes "Just like you were always supposed to be, remember what Tommy always says: the power never lets go of the ones who need it most. Dustin the power needs you just as you need it"

Dustin smiled and shook his head, he knew he was acting silly, he had been a ninja storm ranger, it wasn't like being a new ranger would erase his time as one, but he couldn't stop himself from hearing that tiny voice in the back of his mind that was telling him that he was abandoning his old life completely now. That voice wasn't wrong either, he had: he left blue bay, he quit being a ninja, he left Hunter and now he was replacing his Ninja storm team with another.

When they got Tommy out of the amber he was going to talk to him, he had to know how the older man dealt with this feeling because know Tommy who was a damn brooder when he wanted to be he would have gone through the same things he was. But for now he had a team to run, he had to be a ranger once again, he had college to attend and he had a job to keep...what was he thinking taking on another responsibility? Smiling to himself as he thought of just how busy he was going to be in the coming weeks, months and probably rest of the year Dustin just help Haley a little tighter and took comfort in her presence knowing that when he revealed himself to his team in the morning they were going to have different reaction and secretly he couldn't wait to find out what they all were.

But standing there holding Haley he just realised something that made him groan, when Haley gave him a confused and questioningly look afraid she had hurt her young friend, she knew that the others had been sore after their first time morphing but she would have thought Dustin would be okay considering his background. "Dustin?"

"Now that I've got another colour does that just make me more like Tommy?" he moaned and try as she might Haley could hold back her laughter.

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	8. Green is the New Yellow

__**Right...i know it's been a while but I've been busy with my other projects but i haven't forgotten this at all. Dustin is now the new green ranger...let's see how Cam is gonna take it shall we?  
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_**Chapter 8**_

The worse thing about keeping secrets from a team that you are bound to be one for a good year or so was that they take every little secret to heart and Dustin was just about to reveal to the Dino Thunders the mysterious Green ranger and it was making him a little scared. The previous night he had almost gnawed his thumbnails down to nothings when he thought about everything he was supposed to say, when he was a part of the Ninja storm rangers there had been no secrets between them: he hadn't let there be because he was usually an honest person.

Thinking back to how easily he lied to Conner-who out of all the Dino Thunders he felt the closest too by far-he was a little scared how they'd react to him being the Green ranger, sure he knew they would be happy for him on some level: he had saved them and shown how loyal he was to them. But at the same time he had shown just how secretive he could be and he didn't know if they could trust him after it.

He briefly wondered if this was how Blake and Hunter had felt the night they had visited him-or Hunter at Least-Blake had come crawling to his door step earlier in the morning after his brother arrived a fricking midnight!-but still it was the same thing, they would have had to ponder the fact they were about to tell him at least about what happened to make them turn against them, he knew he couldn't just look Blake up in the phone book because the last he had heard of him was that he was in Phoenix racing at the X-games there-big stuff-and calling Hunter was completely off the cards as the he had left things with him...well it might do more harm than good if Hunter got a call from him at this time.

Haley had been great, she had stayed with him constantly telling him that everything was going to be okay, but she wasn't a ninja or had any ninja training which meant she hadn't been trained to stay awake for three days to 'center yourself into your element' which meant she had to go to sleep just like any other person did. This of course meant that as soon as she was gone all the doubts started to creep back in, and to be honest that was five hours ago and now he was a nervous jumping wreck.

Maybe he should have gotten some sleep too, it really wasn't too late he figured it was only five in the morning and the rangers weren't really due to eight or maybe eight thirty so that could at least kill three and a half hours but then again the Rapto Zord had hatched earlier that night and he had the strongest urge just to curl up with it-stupid Zord operator bonds! Sighing in defeat the now green ranger walked into the zord bay and smiled when he heard his new Zord croon when it saw him, he had always wanted to get that reaction from at least one of them, he reared the Zords but he never really got more than a friendly roar from them so the fact he now had the happy hiss or whatever it was...it made a lot of his doubts fade away.

"Hey there" he said to the new zord which already reached his head-damn he forgot how fast these things grew only an hours before the damn thing had been up to his shoulder, although it wasn't going to grow as tall as Tyranno or Tricera he was probably going to be the smallest out of all the dino zords if he was being honest. "How are ya?"

The raptor hissed happily and nuzzled into his shoulder and Dustin laid his head on his zords neck taking comfort from the bond the two of them shared. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before, when he had bonded with his dino gem he had felt it begin, the raptor he'd seen in his head: it had started everything it but the moment he had watched his tiny Raptor zord break out of its shell and land in his land crying out for him he had felt tears come to his eyes: the thing was so beautiful and innocent and it was his.

Before Dustin could check the time he heard the telltale sounds of the other Dino's walking down into the main room and shot a grin to his Zord which was now a good head taller than him and was blinking at him slowly. "You ready to be shown off boy?" he asked and then laughed when it pulled itself up straight and chirped happily making him shake his head-of course his Zord would be the comedic one.

"Dustin?" he heard Haley call out Dustin knew that Conner had probably woke her up from the bed in the Dino lair-it was really freaky who has a bedroom in their secret lair?

"With Rapto" he called back and muzzled the raptor playfully making it head but him in his chest making him wrap his arms around his neck he knew the Zords were tough but his was still a baby and he was kinda heavy-although Tommy was constantly telling him he looked like a rake no matter how much muscle he acquired.

When Haley lead his three teammates to Rapto's pen all three of them took a moment to take in the beautiful neon green armored raptor Zord that looked a lot more mature and grown up then the ones they rode. Dustin beamed and stroked the raptor to keep him under control, despite how he acted earlier he knew Rapto was still a little nervous around strangers and the three in front of him were strangers.

"Dude he look's awesome!" Conner said as his gaze traveled up and down the green zords form and then took in how young it looked to the other zords "How long until he's fully grown?" he asked moving to lean on the steel pen bars.

Looking back at his Zords Dustin grinned and played with its muzzle again making it chip in surprise which made Kira giggle "I'd say by tomorrow morning" he said nodding "They don't really take long to rear" he shrugged before turning back to them "But we aren't here to talk about Rapto"

The yellow ranger nodded and gave him her best puppy dog look-which come on he like perfected that look-and pouted slight "Who is this green ranger, he was awesome" she said in a dreamy voice and Dustin only grinned and shook his head, he hated dashing Kira's dreams but he wouldn't be dating her any time soon.

"Yeah the way he talked down to Trent" Conner said in a shocked voice before adding in a much softer voice "I wish I could do that"

Ethan didn't say anything but nodded excitedly and Dustin was a little taken aback at how much they had become attached to him in ranger form already it had only been one night how was that even possible? Glancing at Haley for a moment she saw he nodding and giving him an encouraging smile, knowing she would hurt him if he chickened out he bought up his wrist and revealed his dino gem to the other rangers.

"Dustin what is that?" Ethan asked slowly, it sounded almost as if he didn't want to believe what he was saying and when he looked over at Kira and Conner he noticed the same confused looks on his face and sighed at how troublesome they all were, he had really wanted to do this without morphing but of course that wasn't an option.

Taking a deep breath he rolled his shoulders and held up his bracelet and let it fade away to reveal his morphor making the other rangers gasp in shock. He heard Conner mutter a no way and gave them each a cocky smile. "You think that was cool watch this" he said and then brandished his morphor in front of him like a weapon "Rapto Dino Power: Unleash!" he commanded and then was enveloped in the same green light as the other day.

The other rangers watched in shock as their second mentor morphed into the great green ranger that had saved them from Trent just the previous afternoon. When they watched Dustin morph with such ease and confidence the three of them were once again reminded that Dustin had done this before he might not have as many teams or years under his belt like their black ranger did but their Green Ranger had a full year more experience than them.

"Rapto power!" Dustin declared and crossed his arms as the rangers just stared at him in shock and if he wasn't mistaken a little awe "Ah...guys?"

In the end it was Conner who recovered first "Dude this is amazing!" he shouted startling the green ranger into stepping back, what was going on weren't they going to be mad: he did lie to them after all. "I mean I knew you should have been the green ranger from the start but now that you are...this is so cool!"

Kira and Ethan nodded and Dustin just stood there in confusion as he went over everything he'd done in his head: he'd saved them, lied to them, revealed himself to them and now they were thanking him...now that just didn't add up in his mind. Looking over at Haley he saw the auburn hair tech genius grinning at him with a grin that he was telling him 'I told you so'. Turning his attention back to his new team he was amused to see that they were still rambling on about how cool he looked and how awesome he was for saving their lives from Trent.

Deciding to cut off their ramblings before it got to overwhelming Dustin held up a gloved hand signalling for silence. "Now I am glad that you think me being a ranger is a good thing. But aren't you just a little pissed I kept it from you?" he asked slowly as if he was explaining it to a child because really it was quite a simple matter in his mind.

"Ah no dude" Ethan said in confusion "Why would you even ask that?"

The yellow ranger shrugged and nodded in agreement with her blue companion "Yeah I mean we figure you might have freaked out a little: you were a previous ranger and all" she said making Dustin smile happily.

Seriously where does a guy get a team like this by accident, Dustin considered himself the luckiest ranger in the entire legacy at that moment. He had a mentor-albeit trapped in amber at this moment in time-who just so happened to be the greatest power ranger who ever lived, his red ranger was someone who was okay with playing second fiddle-and let's face it with him and Tommy on the team it was bound to happen-and his yellow and blue were so understanding it was scary how much they trusted him.

Rapto head butted him in the back lightly making him turn and give it a quick stroke on the muzzle, the damn thing was still a baby. "Can I like power down yet?" he asked as he noticed the team were ogling him and his new suit, he knew he looked cool in the green but seriously the damn thing was hot!

"Oh right yeah" Conner said standing back-being hit by the energy that expelled from a ranger de-powering hurt like hell as he had found out the first time he'd stood to close to Dr O.

Dustin nodded his thanks and quickly powered down in a flare of bright green light, leaving him standing in his normal clothes. Rolling his shoulders to loosen up any tightened or sore muscles he turned back to his team and rubbed his hands happily "Okay so now that is out of the way we can focus on freeing Tommy" he said looking each of them in the eye "as a team"

Kira smiled and nodded looking at Haley who grinned back "Yeah I mean with our resident Green ranger tech master and Haley on the job we'll have it done in no time" she joked slinging an arm around Ethan's shoulders.

"Yeah I mean just like in Dr O's video most green rangers are the smart ones" Conner laughed as Ethan pouted and the two began to bicker friendlily

Despite the loud arguing going on just a few feet away from him Dustin wasn't really listening, he was too busy thinking over what his rangers had just said: green rangers, tech genius it was repeating over and over in his head. What could it mean and why was it so important to him for it to be bugging him so much if only he had Cam there-. "Cam!" he shouted suddenly scaring the rangers.

Haley gave him an confused look to which he return with a binding grin "Dustin what is it?" she asked slowly while the rangers recovered from their heart attacks that he had given them with his very sudden outburst.

"Cam, he was the techie on my old team" he explained as he rushed in to the main room with only a brief goodbye to Rapto who seemed content to curl up in his pen and sleep some more. "Why I didn't think of him before is beyond me" he said as he leapt up to the command center and began typing furiously "He was the green ranger and when Kira mentioned me being a tech genius I remembered who taught me most of this stuff"

Conner stepped forward and watched their young mentor fly through a sequence of key strokes before he finally understood where the raptor ranger was going with his explanation. "Oh my god you think he can help free Dr O!" he shouted happily.

Dustin turned to the red ranger and gave him an excited nod and in seconds Haley was by his side helping his try to locate the ninja ops secret base code so that he could get into communications with his ex-teammate. It was risky what he was doing but he couldn't really find himself able to stop, he would never say this to his team because well he sorta loved them like a family but he wasn't cut out to lead them, he was the friendly one he was the one they went to so they could went or needed a shoulder to cry on, Tommy was the one who made the decisions he was the leader not him.

Just as he thought he was getting close to his goal, he saw the rangers waiting tensed behind him and knew that they weren't going to be a lot of help. Signalling to Haley to keep going with the location scan he turned to his team and gave them a soft smile. "Go relax today guys. I don't think Mesogog or Trent will do anything"

"But we want to help!" Ethan protested making Dustin smile: it was always the blues so fiery and determined.

"Yes but in reality what can you do?" Dustin asked softly-he didn't want to make them made he was just merely stating that he and Haley were already doing everything that could be done at that moment in time "On a normal day Cam is a hard man to get hold of, but who knows what is going on back there" he said shrugging.

Sensing that Dustin wasn't changing his mind anytime soon Conner laid a hand on Ethan's shoulder and shook his head-there wasn't anything they could do anyway. "come on we should just have some time off, we haven't been able to relax in a while" he said in a voice that Dustin knew would slowly become he 'leader voice'-every great red had one and as it turned out Conner was getting his.

Understanding what was happening Kira let out a tired sigh and looked up at his with an anxious gaze while she wrapped her arms around her waist "You'll call us if you find something right?" she asked quietly.

Dustin nodded and help up his communicator with pride "Hey I'm one of you now" he said making them all grin "and as a ranger I always support and take care of my team" the other rangers beamed at him and as they left he couldn't help but notice they didn't seem as depressed or down as a few moments ago. When he turned back to the command center he notice Haley's smirk and rolled his eyes at her smug expression "Not a word Haley, not a word" he muttered as he continued to look for ninja ops.

Dustin was about to give up after a few minutes more, after running every scan he could think of when suddenly the monitor let out a loud ringing sound and a familiar face flashed up on the screen making Dustin smile in both relief and happiness.

'_**Dustin?'**_

Smiling at his old friend Dustin leant forward and gave him a wink "Hey cam" he said before moving to the side so that the old green ranger could see Tommy and the state he was in "I gotta a bit of a problem: I need your help"

Across town Conner sat staring at the picture of him and the team that Haley had taken the day after Dr O had become the black ranger. It was a warm picture and it reminded him of the time when being a ranger was fresh and new: exciting. It had been way before the white ranger had appeared, before he found out Trent became a psycho obsessed freak: before Dr O had been taken out of action. Letting out a sigh Conner laid back in the grass folding the image and putting it back in his pocket, he liked having that image near it reminded him that he was a part of a team that was doing something bigger.

Looking up at the clouds Conner felt his thoughts leading back to Trent: he knew it wasn't really him, he knew he was acting that way he was because of the stupid Dino gem that was tainted and evil. But at the same time he couldn't shake the fact that this obsession and...Lust that Trent had for him wasn't a creation of the white gem and some small part of him hoped that deep down maybe Trent actually cared for him.

"Aw is the big red leader taking a rest" Conner tensed at the now familiar drawl he placed with the teen he'd just been thinking of.

He didn't like the way Trent spoke now, it wasn't the same as the way he spoke before the white gem took over, it was darker meaner and made his skin crawl just that little bit. "Hello Trent" he mumbled no moving, he wouldn't give him the satisfaction "I thought the green ranger scared you off"

When he felt the grass actually sink next to him he turned his head and saw Trent sat next to his chin cupped in the palm of his hand. "Yes I must say your new ranger really did shake me" he muttered almost as if he'd forgotten Conner was near.

Despite everything the other had done to him the red ranger felt himself being drawn to his enemy, he couldn't help it: Trent still looked like Trent. He had the same eyes-albeit they had a darker look to them now-the same hair the same lips and before he really knew what was happening he found himself moving just a little closer to him so that he could feel the others warmth even through his red shirt. Noticing the red ranger's movement Trent smirked and shook his head before laying a hand on the other's chest making him shiver as their bodies touched.

Conner hadn't been this close to Trent since the other had revealed himself that afternoon when the two of them had been locked in the embrace that had gone on far longer than necessary and he was just a little afraid to admit it but he had missed it, he had missed looking into Trent's eyes and feeling his body next to him. "Trent" he whispered sadly, he might feel something for him but he would never betray his team-never.

"My little T-Rex" the white ranger said warmly and began to rub his chest lightly causing him to sigh at the comforting move-it felt really nice.

When Trent lay down so that he was lying next to his on his side propped up by his elbow the red ranger moved closer still until Trent was pressed up against him. He knew he couldn't do anything but he was just tired of dodging the way he felt about the other boy, he just wanted 'Trent' back and laying there in the grass with the other boy rubbing his chest so lightly-so tenderly he could almost pretend that everything the white ranger had done was just a big nightmare.

"Conner look at me" Trent whispered softly and moved the red rangers face until he was peering into the hazy brown eyes that he loved on the soccer player. "Don't move" he ordered and then leant forward just a little until he was millimetres away from the other's lips and was just gazing into his eyes.

Conner knew what was happening, he knew Trent was about to kiss him, he also knew that it would probably be seen as bad considering he was the bad guy but he had wanted this for so long. Slowly-almost as if he was in a dream-Conner raised his hand and tangled it in Trent's hair. "Just a moment" he whispered before touching his lips to the others.

The kiss was soft at the start, barely there just skin touching skin. But after the initial touch Trent pressed a little harder and soon Conner found himself pulling the other boy on top of him as the white ranger stroked his tongue with his own. He had never known making out could be so hot, or maybe it was making out with Trent that made this activity so great, but at that moment he forgot about being a ranger, he forgot about Dr O and all the other bad things Trent had done in the last month or so and instead focused on the boy lying on top of him sending his nerves on fire: because if he only got this one moment with Trent he was going to make the most of it.

When Cam streaked into the Dino Lair Dustin welcomed him with a huge hug, he had never told Tommy or any one for that matter but he had missed his old team terribly. He had missed Tori's motherly hugs and the way Shane would just invite himself over when he needed to hang out with someone for a distraction. He missed the way Blake would drag him out onto the track even when he didn't feel like going, he missed the way Cam would talk to him about things he didn't even begin to understand but would answer every and any question he had and Hunter...he just missed the crimson ninja.

"Cam" he said happily pulling back from the hug with a beaming smile "How are you...how's Shane?" he asked with a lewd voice making his old friend flush bright red as he lead him into the main area that was empty. Haley had left a few minutes earlier as she did have a store to run and no one to run it for her.

"He's good...we're good" he said clearing his throat before he smiled and looked his friend up and down taking in his new look and his new wardrobe "Not as good as you obviously" he commented with a sly tone "What happened to the airy Dustin?" the damn kid had been hot before he left Blue bay but now he was gorgeous-how the hell was that fair?

Dustin's eyes widened as he touched the hair he had spiked on top of his head in a faux hawk. He had cut his hair two weeks after leaving Blue Bay and had totally forgotten what he had looked like before, and then there was the green and black clothing he was wearing: yeah he was a lot different to the Dustin that had left Blue Bay Harbour. "He ah...grew up?" he said unsurely before laughing.

Cam shook his head at his friend's antics, he had missed the other boy a lot and when he had seen him on the Ninja Ops video feed he had felt his heart leap into his throat. Then of course he had heard about Dustin's problem and had offered to help in any way he could. That of course lead him into Streaking over to Reefside and to the new Power Ranger lair that looked _almost _as cool as the one he built.

"I like it" Cam said nodding "Now shall we free your mentor?" he said cracking his knuckles, he hadn't really had a challenge and this amber prison Dustin had called him about seemed like the perfect way to test him again.

Dustin grinned and nodded. He was so happy to see Cam again and when the two of them began work on the Amber he found that un like working with Haley who liked to keep everything to herself when she worked-unless she found something of course-Cam told him what he was doing and what he wanted to happen. It was a big change and he found that he liked it and when the two of them weren't talking about freeing Tommy they were catching up.

Apparently Cam and Shane had been going out since he left, Hunter had told them all he left and was just like he wished was living in his house and taking good care of the last the samurai had checked. Dustin grinned as the ex-green ranger talked about how Marah and Kapri had been accepted as an Air and Water student he could have just imagined how Tori and Shane would have reacted like that. Hunter was doing well apparently he hadn't broken down when he left he had been sadder than the others but he had gotten on with his life and was running the Thunder Academy with a firm but talented hand.

All of their conversation came to a head when Cam spotted the green gem on his wrist and paused in the wiring of the ray that they had decided would have the most effective chance of freeing his mentor. "Dustin what is that?" he asked softly pointing to the silver bracelet and put his tools down. It didn't really matter the ray was almost finished anyway.

Glancing down at his communicator Dustin held it up for Cam to inspect "I've been called back into action" he said softly but jokingly at the same time "If the colour change wasn't a big tip off" he said with a big grin making Cam shake his head and give him a mock frustrated look.

"You stole my colour" Cam whined crossing his arms across his chest and pouting giving off the best impression of Cyber Cam that Dustin had seen in the longest time making him crack up laughing.

The Samurai watched as his friend laughed and knew that this secret would stay between him and his friend. He didn't really care if his friend was called back into action because hell his mentor was Thomas Oliver the longest active ranger in history so he kind of figured that the power would never really leave his friend. But he also knew that Tori, Shane and Hunter might be a little shocked and put out considering they had just gotten over him leaving Blue Bay Harbour he didn't think that telling him Dustin was a part of another team and one of the senior members at that might be a little much for the former Ninja Storm team.

When Dustin finally stopped laughing Cam had finished the wiring and was just watching him with a fond look, "You done yet?" he asked pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

The new green ranger nodded but couldn't stop grinning at how relaxed the two of them were together-he had missed this more than he thought he had. "Yeah let's fire this thing dude" he said moving their new creation in front of his mentor.

Glancing over at Cam who nodded slowly he put his hand on the charger and let the ray draw out some of his power making his suit flicker in and out of life. It actually hurt when he felt the morph flickering in and out so with gritted teeth he turned to Cam who was standing watching him shocked at the ranger from he was being shown. "Cam now!" he growled and groaned at the pain flaring through him-now he understood why Adam had been in such pain when he had morphed with the broken power coin-this stuff hurts like hell!

The samurai didn't even hesitate hearing his old friend's painful voice he jumped forward and fired the ray and watched as their creation worked. Slowly but surely Tommy was freed from the amber and after a few seconds he was free. "Thanks' guys!" the black ranger said as he stepped free of the Amber and clapped Dustin on the shoulder deciding not to mention the fact he had seen the ranger form flickering in and out when his vision had been cleared.

Dustin grinned and lifted his hand before turning to Cam who was smiling sadly "Cam?" he asked why would the Samurai look so sad he had never looked that sad when they had succeed in the past so why would he be know. "Are you okay?"

"Dustin I have to go" he said looking at Tommy who was still morphed and smiled sadly "Your placed is here with the new rangers. I never really thought you would be the one to leave" he said pulling his yellow ranger into a tight hug before gazing at the black ranger "You take care of him" he warned.

"You have my word" Tommy swore and Cam stepped back.

Dustin grinned and saluted the other ranger happily, he knew Cam wouldn't tell the others of his little change and he would miss him but now he knew how to contact him the samurai better be expecting a whole heap of calls from a flustered and confused green raptor ranger. Cam shook his head and streaked off in a flash of green making Dustin smile-he wondered what color his streak would be now?

"Dustin" he heard Tommy say and froze when he realized what his mentor had probably seen "Is there something you need to tell me...something to do with the green gem?"

**So how was it? **


	9. I've Been There: I Know

__**To be honest i didn't think I'd be able to get this done, what with all my other projects running around in my head, and then of course my new fics creating themselves: very hard to update. But i did it and I'm very happy with it despite it being a little smaller than the other chapters. Now to all my lovely reviewers thank you for you patience and i hope you enjoy this chapter as much as i did writing it.**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter<strong>** 9**_

Being lectured after your recently recovered mentor as Dustin found was probably one of the weirdest situations he had ever been in. He was overjoyed at Tommy's freedom but at the same time he was beginning to feel guilty at taking on the green ranger powers and that in itself was confusing enough, but when Tommy tried to power down and found he couldn't...well Dustin had wanted to smash his head on one of the dino lair walls.

The black ranger held his hands up in confusion and then at Dustin who was at that moment contacting the others on the team. He knew this was bad-who had ever heard of a ranger that couldn't de-morph? But at the same time he still couldn't stop thinking about the fact that Dustin, his Dustin was now on the team as the green ranger, that could only mean the younger man had finished all his experiments on the gem and had gotten back some positive results if he could now morph-and if the ranger form he had seen flickering in and out of life was anything to go by his ranger form was really cool.

Dustin looked over at Tommy who was staring at his hands in confusion, this was bad not only was he in trouble because he had become the green ranger without asking his mentor-not that he could the damn guy had been fossilized-but now said mentor was stuck in morph and he was trying not to lose his control as he had to listen to Kira protest about coming into the lair saying he had given them the day off-couldn't they bloody well tell it was important? Gritting his teeth he told the yellow ranger that it was concerning their black mentor and after clutching his head because of the partial Ptera scream the other let out in surprise he heard Kira tell him she would be bringing Ethan with her.

Sighing in relief when the yellow ranger cut the call Dustin could only hope he wasn't as stubborn as Kira was when he was the yellow ranger on his own team. "Only Conner left" he muttered and quickly closed his eyes as he let the green gem's conscious take over and let himself find Conner's red gem. Moments after he started looking he grinned when he found it and quickly sent a message to the gem forming the comm. Link with the red ranger.

When Conner answered he sounded really breathless like he had been running a marathon-although considering the way the other plays soccer sometimes it wouldn't be completely out of the question-when he told him that Dr O was free he waited for a moment in total silence before Conner's voice flowed over the link telling him he would super speed over in a few minutes and then shut off the link.

"They'll be here in a moment" he said with a tired sigh and turned back to the black ranger who nodded "I don't know what went wrong" he offered as he sat down next to him.

Tommy shrugged and nudged him with his shoulder and Dustin could imagine the grin on his mentor's face-the same one that had made his bad days feel just that little bit better. "Hey come on your the green ranger now, be happy" he said and Dustin couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah I'm taking your original color" he said jokingly before pausing: seriously he was becoming Tommy.

He had changed his entire look since leaving blue bay-not that it was a bad thing because he looked awesome now-he had become a lot smarter if he could say so, and he had taken on another ranger team. Now the comments that Cam had made about him earlier in the day made a lot of sense. He just hadn't been able to notice the change because for him it had happened slowly not all at once. When he felt a hand on his shoulder that jolted him out of his thoughts he looked up and saw Tommy looking at him his dark visor making it impossible to read his expression-something that was already pissing the earth ninja off as he liked to see how his comments affected those he talked to, and with the stupid helmet on his head he couldn't really see Tommy could he?

"Hey you okay?" The black ranger asked in a soft voice-well it would have been soft if the helmet didn't make it louder than it actually was-damn mic.

Dustin nodded and gave Tommy a small smile putting his mentor's nerves at ease "Yeah I'm okay. Just thinking about how much I've changed" he said honestly-he never could lie to Tommy, it just didn't feel right.

Before Tommy could say anything a red blur rushed past him and Dustin smiled when he saw Conner standing in front of them, but then frowned when he took in the others rumpled appearance. The red ranger's hair was a mess-like someone had ran their hands through it and gripped it in handfuls, his lips were bruised and he could see the starting of a hickie on the side of his neck-just what had Conner been ding before he had turned up here?

"Dr O!" the red ranger said happily hugging his mentor and fellow ranger. "It's so good to see you"

Tommy nodded and patted Conner on the back "It's good to see you too Conner. Dustin tells me you've been a good leader since I've been gone" he said happily "It makes me proud to here that the power chose well when it chose you"

The red ranger flushed at the praise and Dustin smiled softly, he had forgotten just how easily Conner was embarrassed, it took only a small comment and the guy was as red as the spandex suit he wore-it was actually quite funny, but at that moment in time it was kind of sweet and made him forget about all his suspicions and thoughts at just how innocent the red ranger looked in that moment. The three of them started talking and he and Tommy made sure to dodge any questions the other had about the black ranger's state of morph until the other two rangers turned up.

This carried on for a good ten minutes until Kira turned up dragging the blue ranger behind her, when she saw the now free black ranger she squealed-thankfully not at ear splitting levels-and threw herself in her mentor's arms hugging him tightly. When Tommy was free from his yellow's hug he walked over to Ethan and laid a hand on the blue ranger's shoulder and gave him a firm nod which made the Tricera ranger beam with pride.

"Okay what did you call us here for?" Kira asked as she took her seat in the command center chair that Dustin was usually perched in "I mean it's great that Dr O is free and all but when you called you made it seem like someone was in real danger"

Dustin sighed and looked over at Tommy for help; he really didn't want to be the one to tell them the bad news: he had been the bringing of bad news too many times. But the black ranger crossed his arms and shook his head a little making Dustin grumble a little before taking a deep breath "It is true that I found a way to free Tommy from the amber" he started slowly making the others grin at the now freed ranger "But it turns out that as an effect he can't power down"

Kira gasped and shook her head sadly while Conner looked down and clenched his fists tightly, how could he have spent the whole afternoon with Trent letting him touch him and...Kiss him while Dr O had been stuck in morph all because Trent had stuck him in amber in the first place. He felt sick to his stomach almost as if he was going to throw up. The blood was rushing in his ears so loudly he couldn't hear the conversation until Dr O had told them that they could leave.

Turning to exit with his friends Conner was called back by Dustin who was giving him a hard stare and motioned for him to follow him into the zord room. "Hey Dustin what's up?" he asked trying to be casual-the green ranger couldn't know...Right?

"You were with Trent today weren't you" Dustin said simply making it a statement more than a question.

Conner just stared at the green ranger: how the hell did he figure it out, it wasn't like any of the others had picked it up only Dustin. Was his dino power allowing him to read minds-because that would kind of suck, it'd give you a massive head ache. "Ah...no?" he said trying to act innocent-pretty stupid if he thought about, Dustin was a ninja.

His fears were proven when the earth ninja crossed his hard stare and didn't falter in his stare in fact it got worse. "Conner, you need to talk to me. Keeping things in...it doesn't work help at all, it tends to make things worse" he said in a soft voice despite the fact that his stare looks like it would peel paint-he must be mad.

Looking at Dustin out of respect but actually listening to the other ranger's words Conner sighed and nodded- he couldn't lie to him: never could. "Yeah, it wasn't planned or anything" he said in a hurry, he may have been with Trent but he was betraying his team-he'd never do that, he couldn't do that.

Dustin laughed when he saw the alarmed and frightened look that found its way onto the red rangers face, seriously you think he was about to hit the younger man, he had been in the same situation Conner had nothing to fear from him...but how was he supposed to show him that exactly. "Conner enough" he said kindly holding up a hand to stop the others rambling "I know I've been there"

"You have?" Dustin nodded and sat down on the Tyranno pen fence and stared at his fellow ranger with old weary and memory filled eyes.

As the memories of a time when he was too naive and too trusting flowed back to him Dustin couldn't stop the pain that accompanied them, he had really hoped he wouldn't have had to tell anyone this, he hated talking about it. "Do you remember when I told you about the two evil rangers that we had on my last team" he said waiting for Conner to nod "Well before they came to me begging that they had changed one of them decided to play with me a bit"

"Like what Trent's doing to me?" Conner asked taking a seat on the floor as he focused completely on the form above him, he liked listening to Dustin when he talked it was soothing to the point where it made him feel warm and...Safe: even when he was getting a lecture and he hated getting lectures!

Dustin nodded and then put his chin in the palm of his hand before resting it on his drawn up knee as his eyes glazed over "Hunter and I...we were friends before I found out he was a bad guy" he whispered "And afterwards I dunno, I think he might have wanted our friendship to say the same because despite what I knew he was always coming around my place asking to hang out or talk. He wanted to spend time with me...Blake did too"

Looking back down at the red ranger Dustin smiled sadly but continued his story, telling Conner all of this would be pointless if he didn't at least tell him why he was giving him this story-he told a lot of stories for some reason. "Anyway, I hid it from my teammates and everything was good but during a battle one time Hunter pulled me close to him and told me I was more one of them then I was with my team and I just shut down. I couldn't fight I couldn't talk I just sat there" he said looking over at his own Zord that was sleeping happily in its pen.

"What happened?" Conner asked gazing up at the senior ranger with wide awed eyes.

The earth ninja sighed and clenched his hands into fists as the anger at himself began to wash over him "I found out Hunter was right. I was more like him and his brother and it scared me for a few days, I lost contact with the other rangers and tried to quit. But then I realized that I had to save the tow of them and I did everything I could to get through to them"

The red ranger bit his lip and looked away in shame, he hadn't really been thinking about saving Trent too much when the other had been on top of him making him moan like that-and all they'd bloody done was kiss!. "But what if...I dunno what if it's different?"

"You mean if you have feelings for him" Dustin asked softly making the other look up at him in shock. "You forget I liked Hunter: a lot" he said and patted Conner on the shoulder giving him a soft smile "I'm not gonna tell you to leave him alone: I'm gonna tell you to save him!"

Conner swallowed nervously and then looked into Dustin's eyes and saw the bright burning honestly he could see clearly and nodded slowly "Will you help me?"

It was scary how quickly one moment in time can change everything, one minute you could be one the side of evil and then in a single moment that can change and you can be completely at someone's mercy. Trent looked into the dark visor of the green ranger as he clutched him close as he led him into the dino lair. He didn't know what had happened but he did know that by attacking him with that strange Copying monster he had felt the evil from his white dino gem draining away.

During the last fight he hadn't thought twice about saving the black ranger and fighting alongside the green one. When he explained himself Dr O had held out his hand and forgave him, he had turned to the green ranger and hadn't been expecting the warm hug he'd gotten from him, when he had been fighting them he had learnt to avoid the green ranger in battle, he might of had a stronger gem then the others but there was something about the green ranger's power that actually scared him.

When the black ranger had got on the ATV and then green ranger had lead him to an armored black and green raptor-not like the zord-but like the riding raptors he hadn't even protested when the other pulled him onto it until he started to fly through the forest. Now he was at the dino lair and was being led into the command center. He heard Dr O talk to his green partner and gasped when the bright ranger de-morph into Dustin.

He had liked Dustin before all this happened; he had been quirky and was never afraid to sing at work to entertain the customers. The older boy had a flare and charisma that he envied, everything Dustin did looked so natural and as it turned out being a ranger did too because he could still remember the last battle he had had with the other ranger where he had been beaten down easily.

"Trent?" Dustin said kneeling down in front of him his eyes warm putting a lot of his fears at ease. "The other are on their way...Conner's on his way"

When he heard Conner's name Trent felt himself pale, what he'd done to the red ranger: the other would never forgive him, he'd terrorized him, why would he. Dustin seemed to understand and pulled him into another hug as Dr O watched them, he still felt guilty about trapping the great ranger in his ranger form.

The white ranger sat back and wondered how long it was going to be until the others came back when he heard Kira's laugh and Ethan's protests. He froze and his gaze turned to the door way, how would Kira act: she'd like him right? He knew Ethan was likely to punch him and well he did deserve it, Conner though...he would be happy if Conner looked at him at all-angry or happy he didn't care. Dustin must have sensed how on edge he was because he rested a hand on his shoulder and gave him a kind smile that relaxed him a fraction-at least Dr O and Dustin trusted him.

Taking a deep breath Trent turned back to the opening just as the others walked through the door, when the three of them saw him he winced when he saw their reactions, Kira fell into a fighting stance as did Ethan but Conner just froze and looked at him and maybe he was being hopeful but his gaze looked a little happy even hopefully himself.

"Guy's what's going on: why's Trent here" Kira bit out saying his name like it was poison making the re-formed white ranger wince: yeah he deserved that.

Dustin's grip tightened and his gaze turned dark, he expected more from them: a lot more...well at least Conner looked hopeful. "Guys enough" he said and looked at Tommy for help, he wouldn't be able to handle this alone: not this time.

The black ranger stood up and made his way to Trent's other side before he addressed his rangers with a steely tone-yep the mutli-ranger was disappointed in his rangers as well. "Stand down Trent isn't going to hurt you" he said crossing his arms and despite having his ranger helmet on his head the damn guy still look intimidating.

Conner's face brightened and he pushed past his fellow teammates and moved to stand in front of Trent who was smiling nervously "You're good again?" he asked carefully, he really couldn't deal with it if Trent was deceiving them again-it had hurt too much the first time.

"Yeah I dunno what happened but my gem is different" Trent said holding up his wrist for bigger measures.

The red ranger smiled and threw his arms around the white ranger happily shocking the other two rangers, out of all of them they would have thought that their leader would be the most hesitant to trust again but there he was hugging Trent tightly just as the white ranger was curled up in his arms. "You're back" Conner whispered and that was all it took for the tears to come.

When Trent began to sob into Conner's shoulder Dustin felt his eyes soften and turned his gaze back to the other rangers who were-thankfully out of their fighting stances-watching the scene with confused looks. "Does Trent really look like he's evil" he asked in a dark voice.

Kira shook her head and stepped forward followed by Ethan and they moved to talk to the re-formed ranger making the two senior rangers sigh thankfully. It had been a long day and the two of them were ready to rest, Tommy lead him into the rest room and lay on the bed-yep he had to sleep in the damn suit-and patted the other side of it as an invitation.

"Come on I'm tired and I can guess you are as well" he said yawning "And I don't think they'll kill each other tonight"

Dustin nodded and crawled up into the bed and lay down next to his teacher curling up into his side taking comfort in the warmth that Tommy was radiating. Sighing as his body relaxed for the first time in weeks it didn't take long for the two senior rangers to drift off to sleep.

**Read and review please**


	10. You Are Your Own Warrior

**I'm So sorry this has taken so long. I didn't really know where i was going to go with this once I made Dustin a ranger and i had to focus my thoughts; but good news to all my fans while I was planning the storyline i managed to make room for a smaller squeal that i shall begin once I've finished this fic. Now thank you to all my fans and loyal readers you are the reason i continue to write without you I would not be taking this as far as it as gone.  
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_**Chapter**** 10**_

When a person loses a part of themselves they can feel that loss like a gaping hole for the rest of their lives unless they manage to get that part of them back. Dustin knew this...he'd lived it more than once: once when he thought Hunter and Blake had used him and his friendship and then once more when his family was killed. But both times he had been able to pull himself up and live on: when Hunter had dragged himself to his house in the middle of the night to explain and apologies with Blake not far behind he had felt the betrayal disappear and the gaping hole he'd felt fill again. His parents had never fully healed but he found the hole not really even a hole anymore more like a pin prick that Tommy was helping heal with every fatherly action he did.

But as he watched Conner who was once so full of confidence doubt himself and his action he knew that he had to help the boy, but at the same time he knew that the same old lecture and story was going to help the boy because what he was feeling was completely different to anything he had felt simply because he had never been the red ranger before. He could see it clearer than the young Tyranno ranger was giving him credit for, but he could see Conner doubting his orders and his leadership, he didn't know if it was because he thought of himself as unworthy because of what he'd felt and still felt for Trent or because he and Tommy were on the team but he knew Conner didn't think he was a good leader.

Watching as Conner sat off to the side throwing his soccer ball in his hands just looking at his team with a fond smile but making no move to join them made Dustin's heart break. No red ranger should be like that, he could still remember how in control and involved Shane had been as the leader. The air ninja had always been helping or doing something and he and Conner had always shared that trait and he had always known that his red ranger friend was in trouble or was upset when he holed himself away from the team just as his dino ranger counterpart was doing at that moment.

Trent seemed to have noticed as well-bless his heart-because the reformed ranger was now moving to sit next to his leader. They weren't saying anything just sitting there but from what he could see Conner still appreciated the fact his white ranger was there, the two of them still hadn't confessed their feelings and considering the state the red ranger was in at that moment it wouldn't surprise Dustin if Conner thought that Trent's feelings had been made up from the evil obsession the white had with his red.

The green ranger looked over at Tommy-who was _still_ morphed!-and gave him a concerned smile, he knew the great ranger would have sensed that something was off with his leader but knowing his mentor the black ranger wouldn't want to cause any confrontation until he knew what he was really trying to fix...well he wasn't going to wait, he didn't have the patience.

"Hey I'm going free styling who wants to watch?" he said suddenly as he got an idea.

The yellow and blue ranger shook their heads but Conner was on his feet in seconds with an equally excited Trent only a few steps behind him. One thing he had learnt a few days after Trent had been turned good again was that despite not being able to do the tricks themselves, both the red and white ranger had a hidden passion for his favorite past time and he always offered for them to come watch as a bonding thing between the three of them-well he offered the team but it was always the two of them that took him up on his offers.

After changing into his gear and assuring Tommy that they would return the raptor cycles after returning the three of them were on their way to the ramps. After finding out his dangerous past time Haley had built him special ramps so he could do it with at least some safe passage. It wasn't all that far from the labs so within a few minutes of riding then reached his favorite spot. The two hid the cycles while he took his position on the ramp and took off at top speeds.

Clearing everything from his minds Dustin let his bike fly through the air and then lifted himself from the seat and hooked his feet under the handle bars and let go so he was hanging on only with his feet. Hanging there for a few seconds he pulled himself back so that he pulled himself into his seat just in time to land perfectly eliciting loud cheers from Trent and Conner. It sometimes made him smile at how awed they were by him performing such a simple trick after all it was the first one he'd learnt.

A few hours later after he was too tired to do anything more than jump the damn ramps Dustin had lead the two other rangers back to the dino lair where he made them look over both the white dino ATV and the red raptor cycle before he freed them to go off on their own. That of course wasn't the case for Trent though because Dr O called him off to go on a little mission to search for something that he and the black ranger had been secretly searching for. It disturbed him that even with his connection with earth-despite it being dulled with him leaving the academy-he hadn't been able to find the ancient relic.

"Hey Conner" he called as he tried to catch up with Conner who was wandering through the halls of the dino lair alone. The red ranger stopped and looked up and gave him a curious glance making him smile a little, "Dr O wants you and I to go out for a bit"

Conner gave him a confuse look which he just smile innocently at-he might be the green ranger but he could still pull of the yellow charm better than anyone!-and nodded "Yeah I know it's weird right" he said like he was just as confused as the red ranger "But I think we should go morphed"

"Okay if you think so" Conner said nodding heading for the raptor cycle again.

Dustin watched the red ranger walk off and sighed sadly, he just hoped that his plan worked because he didn't think he would be able to keep pretending with act he was putting on fro Conner's benefit. Walking towards the cycle room he check to make sure the Velocity Cycle-named after the Velocaraptor-of course-was in working order before he began the morphing process.

"Dino Thunder Power up: Ha!"

"Rapto Power: Unleash!"

Once they were morphed and ready Dustin lead Conner out onto a barely used trail and hoped that once the red ranger felt the power awaiting him where they were going that he would take over. Considering the damn shield was for him the red ranger should damn well take over. Luckily about ten minutes after they rode Conner began to sneak forward and Dustin grinned inside his helmet and slowly let up on the accelerator on his bike so he fell behind the team leader and let the red ranger lead him where they need to go.

Only following Conner with half consciousness Dustin allowed his thoughts to finally go back to one of the conversations he had shared with Cam two weeks earlier when the samurai green ranger had helped him free the black ranger. It had been a little surprising to say the least especially considering it was Cam-the ranger who had been so afraid to kiss Shane that he had to make out with him before hand-that had bought it up.

_Sometimes Dustin didn't know why he ever bothered to learn anything about technology when it seemed to hate him so much. For the last fifty minutes he had been working with Cam to create a stupid ray that would free Tommy and for the last fifty minutes all the two of them had been doing is hitting brick walls-although the chatting was cool. _

"_So ah...did you like say goodbye to Hunter before you left" Cam suddenly asked and when Dustin looked up in surprise he saw that the old green ranger had bit his lip in fear-or maybe he had slipped that question out?_

_Shaking his head Dustin let his hands go limp in his lamp as he remembered his 'goodbye' to Hunter "Not exactly...I gave him a letter" he said simply before picking up the piece of machinery again maybe if he looked busy Cam would drop the subject. _

_Cam nodded and then stopped what he was doing and gave him his full attention-guess hoping the great stubborn Cam would give something up was too much to ask-"Go on" he pressed and Dustin shrugged he didn't know what Cam wanted him to say._

"_I didn't exactly leave with much notice" He explained softly "So I wrote Hunter a letter explaining why I left blue bay...why I left him" he whispered as tears pricked his eyes. _

_Cam must have noticed because he patted him on the back softly making him chuckle a little-yeah so not helping Cam but thanks anyway. "I wasn't going to leave him with nothing. Not after he and I promise each other we'd tell each other everything. But sometimes I regret writing that letter" he mumbled, because now Hunter knew he loved him and now he would never be able to talk to the crimson ninja ever again. _

"_I don't think you should tell Hunter that" Cam said slowly as if he was being careful how to word his statement "Ever since you left I don't think he's let that letter out of his sight" _

"_You're kidding!" Dustin gasped, why the hell would a piece of paper be that damn important to him, he had wrote that letter in like half an hour and yet he had kept it for a good six months why in the world would he have done that. He might have understood if Cam said he'd kept it but the fact that he said Hunter never lets it out of his sight was a little strange. _

_The samurai shook his head and then looked down at his oily hands "No, I once saw him reading it, and when his eyes got to this one line, I saw his eyes re-read that part like ten times. He isn't even that into Blake's letters when he sends them" He said softly and looked into his eyes with a stern gaze "What did you write Dustin?" _

_The earth ninja didn't want to say it, he wanted to keep it a secret but gazing into his friends eyes, gazing into the eyes of the one who had trusted him with his secrets and fears Dustin felt his own walls crumbling and when he spoke he actually felt better than when he had wrote them down "I wrote that I loved him" _

Dustin couldn't stop the smile that formed when he remembered his friends reaction, Cam had go so red and then started to stutter about why Hunter was so protective of the paper making him laugh and miss most of it. When that was over the two of them had gone back to talking about Tori who was waiting for a visit from Blake who was due home in a month or so and Shane who was entering more skate competitions than normal.

This of course lead back to him and motorcross which he had told Cam he had won two freestyle competitions in the last few months and went on to mention he never raced anymore saying it just didn't give him that thrill anymore-then he had to hit the damn guy because he had smirked at him and arched an eyebrow. But then they had started to get somewhere and all talk kind of stopped, glancing at the red ranger in front of him Dustin began to slow when he noticed Conner easing up when they entered a rocky ravine.

"Hey Conner you okay?" He asked driving up alongside him now that the track allowed for it.

The red ranger looked around and nodded but at the same time killed the engine of his bike, something was distracting him big time "Yeah...it's just...something I need to find" he whispered and Dustin was glad you couldn't see his face behind his helmet because then Conner would be able to see the full blown grin that he knew he was sporting.

Nodding and gesturing for the red ranger to take the lead Dustin was glad he'd shut off the comm. Lines in Conner's helmet because the insistent binging that Kira was harassing him with was giving him a hell of a headache. He knew it was probably important but so was this, and he wasn't going to let this mission be interrupted by some stupid monster. As the two of them walked further into the rocky ravine and through the hollowed clearings Dustin began to believe he had left the comms open because he was starting to hear explosions and screams that sounded a lot like Kira. When he checked to make sure the comms were closed Dustin felt his eyes widened when he noticed that the damn things weren't: they were going towards the damn battle.

Grabbing Conner's wrist he stomped towards the battle ignoring all of the red ranger's protests and lead him straight towards the clearing until they were standing at the entrance to the main clearing. The beast inside was throwing around the other rangers like they were nothing and Zeltrax seemed to be beating Tommy but mostly because the black ranger was protecting a old fossil shield of some sort, spotting the artefact Dustin felt relief wash over him now he could do two things in one go and it would be a lot more effective.

Hearing Trent yell in pain Dustin felt Conner tense beside him and rolled his eyes once again thankful of his helmet: he knew he had danced around Hunter for almost two years and he hoped he hadn't been as obvious as the white and red rangers were because watching the white and red rangers do their little mating dance was getting very irritating. "You're not going to help them" he asked crossing his arms.

Conner's head whipped to the side to stare at him but Dustin knew he had the picture of indifference down pat. He had mastered it when he had been interrogated when he was with the earth ninja's-they hadn't really like him the first few years always being late and all that-and he had never lost that ability, being in the Rapto Ranger suit actually gave his look a bigger effect: he thinks it's the helmet-it was scary dude!

"What do you mean 'me'?" the red ranger asked in a shaky voice and it was at that moment that Dustin realised just how scared and frightened the red ranger was. It was a huge difference to the cocky and charming Tyranno ranger he had met only a few months ago.

But he couldn't falter, this would help him he had to believe that, he couldn't be Conner's hero anymore and hopefully Tommy would catch on to what he was trying to do and wouldn't give him such a big lecture when they got back to lair-yeah right. "Because I think I'm going to sit this one out" he said strolling into the clearing but heading for the rocks that would give him a good view of the battle below.

He knew the red ranger was staring at him, probably with something like shock if he was correct, he had just said he was abandoning the team when they needed them so...yeah that would make me kinda confused as well. Using his enhanced powers the suit gave him so that he was able to jump up onto the flat surface of the outcrop he turned around with his arms crossed and looked back down at Conner who was standing at the entrance watching the battle helplessly. "Are you going to help your team red ranger" he growled out his voice being affected by the raptor DNA streaming through his veins at that time.

"Why aren't you helping?" Conner yelled back and Dustin felt a small smile find its way onto his face: the old Conner was slowly making its way back to him.

Instead of explaining to him why he cockyed his head to the side and relaxed his shoulders making it look like he was observing a street performance making Conner growl and stomp towards the battle. But when the red ranger noticed Trent about to be blasted again he used his super speed and rushing over to stand in front of the white ranger just in time to be blasted in the chest. Dustin winced and rubbed his chest a little as he imagined just how much that would have hurt; he remembered when Hunter had struck him with a thunder bolt when he was still evil: the damn thing, it had hurt like a bloody mother!

Conner could honestly say he hated Dustin at that point; the damn green ranger was standing off to the side while he and his team were being blasted around by this...thing and he wasn't doing a damn thing to help them. To make matters worse the buzzing that had started earlier in the morning when Dustin had started them off that morning had gotten worse and was making his hits distracted and sloppy-he was going to get a lecture when they got back to the lair about proper training and all that jazz. Pulling himself back to his feet Conner shook away the pain.

He couldn't do this! He was a power ranger, he was the red power ranger: he was the team leader, and that meant he wasn't going to let this ugly thing destroy Reefside just because he had been to hurt to continue. He was the last stand and he wasn't going to fall! Looking over at the other rangers Conner smiled sadly when he saw how spent and injured they were, they had fought hard and now he was going to help them.

A green blur rushed past him and Conner smiled when he saw Dustin standing over Dr O who was at Zeltrax's mercy with his own blades drawn at the ready okay so maybe he didn't hate the guy-ticked of maybe hate no. The black ranger pushed this weird old thing into Dustin's hands and the two of them had a hushed comment when the green ranger helped their mentor to his feet before turning and moving towards him.

"Dustin what's going on!" he demanded weakly-damn that thing had a strong blast.

The green ranger looked down at the shield and pushed it towards him making the buzzing inside his head ease a little: this must have been what he was looking for! "This Conner is the Triassic Shield" Dustin explained and made him take the thing "It is a weapon that chose its own warriors: it has chosen you and only you"

Conner looked down at the shield in his hands and saw the front of it filling in with a bright red making him laugh, Dustin held out a hand and rested it on the artifact and began to glow a little and the horns on the shield turned a bright emerald green Conner gasped when he felt an unknown power flush into him and looked into Dustin's visor and realized when the green ranger was going for him: Dustin was giving him is power.

A white hand slid past and rested on the shield as well and Conner looked over at Trent and felt tears prick to his eyes as Trent followed suit and gave him all he could he wanted to say something to the white ranger: wanted to tell him how much this meant to him and how much he cared for him: but at that moment, no words could be said. Kira followed next supported by Ethan and the two of them gave him their powers together and Conner felt their trust and support through their power and smiled happily. When Dr O laid his own hand on the shield Conner looked around and felt the change inside of him: he wasn't going to let them all down.

Dustin lifted his hand and clapped a hand on his shoulder and gave him a firm nod "You are our Triassic Warrior: Conner" he said in a clear voice and suddenly everything the green ranger had down made sense "It was always going to be yours"

Trent slumped a little as he let go of the shield and used Dustin's shoulder for support just as Kira and Ethan were doing to each other. The three younger rangers had given all they could given and were barely hanging onto morph while Dustin and Dr O were okay as they had been through the power draining process before. "Go get them Tyranno" Dr O said and took a step back handing over the protection of the team to the one who it belonged to.

The battle hadn't been quick but it had been victorious and when he let the strange power of his comrade's drain out of him Conner felt all his power go with it and moments after he de-morphed his eyes rolled into the back of his head and everything went black. Dustin held back Trent while Tommy caught his red ranger and smiled within his helmet: yep the power draining affected no one differently always did the same thing.

"He's just a little tired" Tommy declared after a moment "when you get a new power it takes a toll on the body: we just saw what it did to Conner" He said as he hiked the taller red ranger up onto his back "Come on let's go back.

The trip back to the dino lair was spent in total silence and when Dustin had checked on the rangers he had found Kira and Ethan barely awake and knew they would crash once they were at the lair. True enough once checking in with a frantic Haley the blue and yellow rangers disappeared into the bedroom and were asleep in moments. Conner on the other hand was still out cold so Dr O put him in the Med bay on one of the beds in there.

Dustin had ordered Trent into one of them as well because the white ranger refused to leave his leader's side-wanted Conner to wake up with someone there and within minutes the white ranger was also asleep. Tommy sighed and rubbed his lower back turning to Dustin who had finally de-morphed, the green ranger braced himself for a lecture but was shocked when he felt Tommy's arms wrap around him in a warm hug. Despite being initially shocked and surprised with his mentor's sudden act of affection Dustin hugged the black ranger back with as much love as the other was giving him.

"Thank you Dustin" He heard Tommy whispered and squeezed Tommy back affectionately "You did what I was too afraid of"

The green ranger smiled at his senior ranger and shook his head, didn't Tommy get it, he had done it for the team, he would die for the dino's just as he would have died for the Wind and Thunders ninja s, he had been a yellow to start off with but Dustin couldn't help but chuckle: maybe he'd always been a green at heart: Kind hearted, misunderstood and shoulders everything for the team. That sounded like him now. "Tommy I'd do anything for you and the others...that's who I am"

The Brachio ranger laughed and let go of his eldest student and patted him on the shoulders "Yeah I know" Dustin noticed just how tired the other looked and pushed him out of the med bay assuring him that yes he would look after Conner and then slumped in the seat next to the red ranger.

He might not be as heavily affected as the new rangers but unlike Tommy who had his powers changed like four times and had learned to cope with the aching tiredness that settled in your bones afterwards, he had only lost his powers once and he was being affected a lot more than the legendary Tommy Oliver was. Rubbing his forehead with his one hand Dustin froze when he felt a weak touch on the hand he'd left resting on Conner's bed and when he looked up he saw the tired eyes of the Tyranno ranger looking up at him.

"Hey there Rex" he whispered being aware that Conner probably had a huge headache thanks to his new powers and the beat down he'd gotten before he'd gotten the shield "I know this is a stupid question but: how ya feeling?"

Conner cracked him a grin and Dustin felt a lot of his fears settle when he saw that "Did Tyranno sit on me by any chance?" the red ranger asked making Dustin laugh, "No seriously!"

Shaking his head Dustin patted the leader's hand and gave him a proud smile, Conner had gotten himself back, he had his trust back in the team and from what he could tell he had his confidence back-although he might wait and see if that was true after he was up and ready to go "No but you did beat the bad guy" he said happily "All on your own"

"No I didn't" Conner said not breaking his gaze from his own and Dustin could see the powerful emotion in the others eyes that took his breath away slightly. "I had you all with me...fighting with me" he whispered and Dustin gave Conner's hand a quick squeeze.

The two of them did say anything for a moment but Dustin was going to apologize until he heard Conner's weak voice say something first "Dustin...thank you for what you did today" the red ranger said seriously. When Dustin gave him a look of alarm and shock the leader was quick to explain "When you refused to help me, you made me take charge and protect my team. I had to stop relying on you and Dr O and live up to the Red Ranger legacy"

Dustin smiled and pushed the red ranger down "You can thank me later" he whispered as he moved the sheets into a comfortable position. "For now you need a rest: you've had a big day today" Dustin smiled when Conner nodded and yawned, everything was going to be okay.

**Right well that was my take on Conner's Battleizer...wow i was really off Canon..*Shrugs***

**Read and Review please.**


	11. I'm Not The Same Person

**Hello my faithful readers, here id Chapter 11 of my fic. I know I've been slower with my updates than normal but i have so many projects in the works that i can hardly finish a chapter of one fic before I'm onto the next one. But i assure you i am not abandoning this fic anytime soon. So here is my take on TOmmy becoming invisible.**

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><p><strong>Chapte<strong>_**r 11**_

Winter in California is not a fun time that was what Dustin had decided as he cleaned his green and black raptor of mud for the like tenth time that week. This time Mesogog had sent down an ugly beast that had looked like a cross between a crocodile and a gecko-which had the strangest ability to try and stick people to it-down at the dirt tracks just after they'd had a full downpour and it hadn't taken very long the armored beasts to get totally covered in the sticky wet dirt. Luckily-since teaching the other rangers how to take care of their beasts-he only had to clean his own green and black beast, and his raptor was smart enough to stay still while he was being clean unlike the others which were getting their owners covered in the mud that covered their own bodies.

Despite the horrible weather that Reefside had been blessed with for the past few weeks not everything was going bad, two days earlier Tommy and he had found and taken a sample of a weird purple slime that he and Haley had used to create a modified version of the ray that de-fossilised Tommy that should de-morph the black ranger for the first time in a month. Dustin was already to do it but he was also wary because he couldn't help but think that something was going to go wrong which was why he was waiting for his partner in crime. One thing he was a little scared of was the fact that everything had pretty much been going his way, it was bringing up memories of when it had happened in Blue bay during his stint as the wind ninja: normally when something like this happened something bad was just around the corner.

One of the main things that had been putting him on edge for the last week or so: was his lack of connection he felt to the earth now. It had started during the search to the Triassic shield with his senses slightly dulling to the point where he couldn't go as deep into the earth any more. Then slowly he began to notice he couldn't manipulate his ninja element as well anymore. He had discussed it with Tommy who was also concerned but refused to tell the other rangers. It didn't have anything to do with them and despite knowing he was an old ranger they had yet to know what team he was on, and telling him about being a wind ninja would reveal what team he was on-and that was something he wasn't ready for yet.

Another problem he was facing was his lack of dino power, he wasn't being jealous or envious of the other rangers but he wasn't the only one who had noticed it either. Haley had run every test she could think of on his dino gem but all the results pointed to the fact that he should have some sort of genetic power that originated from his gem. But he had yet to find what this power was, when Trent said his was camouflage he had teased the black and white rangers that their gems were twins as they basically had the same power.

Once he had fully cleaned Charger-the others not even half way done with their own raptors yet-Dustin kissed his enthusiastic raptor on the nose making him squawk happily and nuzzle him affectionately before he gave it a final pat and strode from the raptor room and into the command center to watch Tommy flip Trent onto his back for what looked like not the first of many. Sometimes he couldn't help but laugh when the he heard the rangers say that they could take Tommy in a sparring session-did they not remember sometimes that their mentor was like the greatest Power ranger to ever live? But he always did laugh when he heard them say that the hell they thought could take him and then he'd have to remind them that one he was a master ninja and two he's been a ranger before and knew how to handle himself a heel of a lot better than they could.

When Tommy spotted him as Trent moaned from his place of the floor the black ranger waved him over making him beam, he loved sparring with his mentor: it was always a hell of a work out-sometimes when he was having a good day he could win!-so with an excited demeanor he shrugged out of his jacket and then took his place on the sparring mats in front of the black ranger while Trent moved off to the sides to watch. That was one thing he had never really understood: the other rangers were fascinated by the sparring matches between he and Tommy. What he really wanted to say to them was that they should see Tommy and his friend Adam Park spar: that was interesting with Adam's mastery of Shaolin Kung fu and Thai Jut-su and Tommy's mixture of Martial arts under his belt it made their fights a sight to see.

Giving his mentor a quick nod to signal he was ready Dustin had to leap into the air so that he could dodge the kick that had been aimed at his shin. Smirking at Tommy and the moves he'd just used he couldn't help but think back to everything he had learnt over the years-sometimes he was sure that Tommy forgot he had master the wind ninja style and even parts of the Thunder style: thank you Hunter and Blake- so taking a deep breath he used his jump and started off with an aerial kick before he moved onto using his shin strikes and heel kicks to really move Tommy around. The two of them hardly sparred together because it normal hurt one of them badly and by the way he was blocking it looked like he was going to end up hurting Tommy badly.

Everything came to a head when he flipped the black ranger over his shoulder onto the floor and raised a leg for a drop kick and stop just before the back helmet: he'd won. Helping his mentor to his feet Dustin gave Tommy a big smile that he knew Tommy would have been returning-one thing he loved about his teacher was that he was always so proud whenever he bested him on the mats-before he clapped the black ranger on the shoulder and then looked over at the four rangers-the other three must have come out some time earlier-who were clapping and cheering loudly. The black ranger clapped his hands and gestured to Dustin who despite his victory was breathing heavily as he tried to get his breath back.

"And that Trent is how you spar against me" he said proudly making Dustin flush a little, he made it seem like he won all the time and he so did not.

The white ranger nodded and then smiled at the other rangers embarrassed, he hadn't wanted them to know he had told his mentor he could go toe to toe with him and actually win. In fact as it turned out only Dustin could do something like that. Laughing at Trent expression Dustin shook his head and turned back to Tommy who was scratching his neck, he could only guess that being stuck in morph was irritating the hell out of the older ranger so he got a big grin when he was able to say his next few words.

"So Tommy" he drawled putting his jacket back on with an air of indifference. The black ranger looked at his student who was fixing his hair and cocked his head to the side and then mentally swore when he remembered that the green ranger could actually see his questioning expression on his face-although he swore that Dustin was just that good at ready body language because he always seemed to know what he was thinking-even when he couldn't see his face.

Clearing his throat Tommy turned to face his indifferent student "What's up Dustin...do you need to beat me down some more" he joked.

Dustin laughed and held up his hands shaking his head, "No nothing like that" the other said as he fingered his green leather jacket that Haley had gotten when he morphed for the first time trying not to smirk at his leader "I was just wondering if you might want to be de-morphed today" he asked shrugging.

Silence fell over the group and Tommy's hands actually shook, Trent looked at Dustin in hope and the others were also gazing at him with bright wide eyes making a warm smile make its way on Dustin's face and for him to nod slowly. He wasn't pulling their chains he and Haley had finished the work on the slime late the previous night-which was probably why Haley wasn't there yet, she had probably only woken up a few hours ago-and as soon as the auburn genius arrived the two of them could attempt to de-morph their black ranger.

"Dustin...you're not joking are you?" Tommy asked and Dustin smiled kindly. There weren't many situations when he could say that he heard his black ranger mentor sound so vulnerable, so scared and sometimes he needed to hear that because it reminded him that yes Tommy was in fact human.

Shaking his head and holding out his hand for his mentor to take Dustin smiled "No Tommy. Haley and I finished last night, she's on her way so we can de-morph you" he whispered happily and Kira actually leaked out a few tears.

Tommy clasped his hands with Dustin and let the green ranger lead him into the command centre just in time to see Haley rush in wearing an excited and flushed expression. Seeing his old friend so happy Tommy didn't think twice before pulling Dustin into a tight hug. When he had met the young boy after he'd saved his life he would never had thought he'd get so attached to him, but after sharing ranger stories and then living together while on the dig, he had slowly began to consider the young man as his son.

Now he couldn't stop the affection he was feeling for him at all, he knew that when Dustin's college years were up the young man was probably going to move back to Blue Bay and it was going to hurt him. He'd become so used to his quirky housemate, the way he would cook for them at two in the morning if they wanted food, the way he mothered him into sleeping when he himself would rather stay up and work on ranger stuff or even his bike.

"You ready for this Tommy" Haley asked smiling at the sight of the two men embracing in front of her, she really didn't want to interrupt them but she really did need to warn him about what this could do to him, after all he was kinda the test subject.

"This might hurt" he heard Haley warn the other ranger making him pull back slight. What did she mean it might hurt? Just before he was about to say something though Dustin pull him back into the hug startling him a little. "Dustin?"

The green ranger shook his head and gave him a warm smile "Use me as support, I'm here for you" he said with such honesty and innocence that Tommy found himself relaxing in his hold and rested his helmeted head on the others shoulder. He might not have long with the other and he wanted to make the most of it while he still could.

Tunning out of everything Tommy ignored Haley's readying and just focused on Dustin and the power he felt radiating from him. Sometimes he forgot that his young prodigy was a master ninja and a ranger himself, but it was at times like this when Dustin took control and acted like...well he sort of acted like a red ranger, that he was reminded that yes Dustin was strong enough to take care of himself and didn't need anyone mothering him.

When Haley had said it might hurt, she hadn't lied, when he felt the beam hit his back it felt as if something was trying to rip his skin off-although considering he'd been wearing the damn ranger suit for a while it wouldn't surprise him-but after the first painful seconds he focused on Dustin and before he knew it he was de-morphed.

"Dr O your back!" Kira exclaimed happily and when he lifted his head he saw Dustin beaming at him happily.

The green ranger gave his mentor a wink and stepped back and inspected his mentor for a moment, it was good to see him out of his full black suit, he actually couldn't believe he and Haley had done it, it had been a little touch and go for a while. But before he could say anything he noticed the black dino gem glowing bright black and knew that was a bad thing.

"Haley something is wrong with the black gem!" he barked rushing to the command center rushing through the bio scans. "Command brings up Black Dino Gem genetic functions" he ordered.

'**Black dino gem overloading genetic power overloading' **

Dustin felt his eyes go wide and he swung back around and saw Tommy staring at his hands in shock, they were fading away and slowly so was his whole body in fact it looked like his whole body was turning invisible. Trent gasped and took a step towards his mentor who held his hand up and shook his hand giving them all a big smile.

"Dr O" the white ranger whispered sadly leaning into Conner for support who was also gazing at his mentor in shock.

The black ranger turned back to Dustin who was staring at him guiltily and gave him a wink "Hey come on Dustin, at least you got me out of the black right" he said as he faded away completely. "So...can you see me?"

Dustin started laughing and shook his head and looked over at Haley and gave her a shrug to which she laughed at. Hey they had gotten Tommy free now they just had to make him visible: no problem. Before anyone could say anything the alarms went off and when Dustin turned back to the computer he sighed when he saw Zeltrax standing in the quarry alone shouting a challenge for Tommy.

"I'll deal with it" Dustin said and eyed the place Tommy had been standing "I'd say keep an eye on Tommy but I don't think that's entirely possible right now" he said dryly making Haley laugh and place a hand on his shoulder.

"Go" she said warmly "I'll turn on the heat sensors so I can keep track of him" she added with a wink making Dustin smirk, he'd missed his boss, he hadn't been able to work as much lately because of all his rangering but he really wanted to get back to it: he missed the cyberspace cafe.

"Hey I'm invisible not deaf!" they heard Tommy say and Dustin could just imagine his disgruntled mentor huffing and crossing his arms with a pout on his face.

Rolling his eyes Dustin quickly morphed and rushed into the bike chamber and mounted his green bike, smiling at the familiar roar of the engine. Considering he built the damn thing it should be comforting he mused as he sped off to the quarry to meet with the Cyborg. Closing his eyes and trying to tap into the earth Dustin sighed in relief when he felt the earth's answering call loud in clear in his head, he was having a good day by the looks of it-minus turning his mentor invisible.

When Zeltrax spotted him he grumbled that he wanted to fight Dr O for a re-match, Dustin rolled his eyes and crossed his arms and told the cybernetic warrior that it was either him or no one. "Seriously Smitty you need to get the hell over your grudge it's gonna get you kill" he warned drawing his Rapto blades.

"That it may be Green ranger, but my downfall won't be by your blades" was the reply and Dustin nodded in agreement, he would never take the honour of defeating this guy from Tommy that was something he just couldn't do.

The two of them began to trade blows and Dustin found himself hard pressed not to stumble under the force of some of the blows he did take. Sparring against his mentor was one thing but battling Tommy's biggest rival who was out to kill him was a big difference but on a lucky shot where he threw the Cyborg into a tree he felt a jarring pain followed by a flash of bright green spike in his head making him freeze for a moment and then looked down at his dino gem that was glowing slightly. "What in the world" he was sure the gems didn't normally do that.

"Just figuring out you're not like your teammates are you" Zeltrax said as he pulled himself to him feet

Dustin looked up and felt his anger rising, what the hell did that mean, of course he was like the dino thunder rangers, he might have a different call than them but he was still one of them "What the hell would you know" he spat out unaware of the trees shaking as a result of his rage and lack of control.

Zeltrax snorted and crossed his arms seemingly forgetting they were meant to be fighting-although Dustin wasn't very interested in fighting at that moment either. "During the creation of the red, yellow, blue and black Dino Gems a white gem was also created in the back lash wave" he said with a sneering voice 'These gems are all of the same power and are held by your teammates"

"Yeah okay so what makes my gem so different?" He asked angrily his hands forming into fists; he didn't like what this guy was trying to say. What did he really know, he hadn't been there when he saved the team from Trent, hadn't been there when he had saved the team countless times. What did _Zeltrax _of all creatures-because he sure as hell wasn't human anymore- know of his team?

The Cyborg laughed and pointed at the morphor on his wrist before he continued "The green gem that gives you all you're ranger powers if of a different set entirely!" he said in a smug all knowing voice that made Dustin want to rip the man apart. "Your gem is made from a much older and powerful source"

Dustin had heard enough he didn't want to hear this "Shut up!" he growled raising his arms only to get a good look at his morphor: it was different to the others...did that mean his gem was different as well, he knew Trent's gem was slightly different but his morphor at least held some resemblance to the others his didn't.

"You know this though don't you" Zeltrax continued "You know that you're different, you just don't know how, but I do" he mocked and that's when Dustin snapped.

It shouldn't have been as bad as it was, but he hadn't been in very control lately so when Dustin let out a feral roar and flared his earth power out to his maximum strength the whole ground began to tremor and roots wrapped themselves around the Cyborg's arms and legs tying him up while a large chasm began to open and crack the earth in the quarry. Dustin screamed in pain as he felt his anger pouring into the earth, despite being the most connected the his element that he had been in a while he knew that he shouldn't be doing this, as an earth student he had always learnt that he had the most dangerous out of the three elements and had been taught that control with earth was key. Taking a calming breath he centred himself and let his anger fade away and was pleased when he felt the earth reacting to his calming state of mind and stopping it's mini earthquake.

"Tell me!" He demanded as he walked up to Zeltrax who had been watching the green ranger's break down with fascination. "I wanna know everything: where the hell does my gem come from!" he hissed wrapping his hand around the cybernetic neck of the Cyborg "Or we're gonna find out if you can function without a head!"

Startled by the threat the normally calm level headed-if slightly childish-Green ranger snarled at him Zeltrax was a little shocked to answer right away and it wasn't until Dustin raised his blade that he began to talk. "Alright!" he shouted before softening his voice a little "Before the creation of the dino gems, three gems: a green, gold and silver gem was created in the volcano of origins" he began slowly very aware of the ever present blade Dustin had pressed against his throat.

"These gems were infused with the DNA of the Raptor, Tyrannosaurus and Crocodile species" he continued swallowing despite him not having the need to "They were known as the Origin Gems, and their inner dino powers had to be unleashed: not powered up"

"Rapto dino power: unleashed" Dustin whispered as he remembered his call and how right it had felt when he had said it, but it made no sense, he and Dr O had only found one of the gems why hadn't they found the Gold and silver gems along with it-not that they needed anymore rangers it was more the fact he didn't want Mesogog to have his hands on them.

Turning his attention back to Zeltrax he pressed himself a little closer and made his voice as dark and threatening as possible "And where are the other gems?" he growled

The Cyborg shook his head in what could have been sorrow but the dude was like half metal what hell was he supposed to do about that? "They were lost to us, crushed by the great meteor only fragments were found, your gem was the only one to survive" he said and then leant closer to him "Why do you think Mesogog is so interested with you!"

Dustin felt his mind shut down, suddenly going through all the battles in his mind, they was Mesogog would send monsters that would draw out his abilities, he had thought it was all just some big coincidence he hadn't thought there was a big plan. But now he knew: Mesogog hadn't just been sending monsters to wreck havoc he had been testing him: trying to find out if his gem really was the lost gem he had been looking for.

Stepping away from Zeltrax he looked down at his morphor and swore to himself that he would never give the monster his dino gem-not ever "Tell your master that he is never getting this gem from me, not as long as my heart still beats" he said turning away from the Cyborg "Oh and another thing...I'd get some help" he laughed jumping as he leapt onto his bike again.

Driving through the forest towards the Dino Liar Dustin thought back to everything he had just learnt, he had just learnt that no: he wasn't a Dino Thunder he was a Dino Origin ranger, Mesogog would be after him and his gem from that point on and that he had probably lost nearly all of his earth control but at the same time he couldn't find himself caring about anything. He might not be a Dino Thunder but he was still a part of the team: he was their green ranger! Mesogog was never getting his gem he'd make sure of that and maybe it was time to let the earth go...he wasn't the same person he'd been the previous year.

**Well how well did i do?**


	12. Inner Battles

**Dude this took forever to write, I've been busy reading the Hunger Games trilogy so that i could go see the move: which is btw the best movie ever! Anyway here is my take on Tommy's time in a coma...yeah not too sure about this. But you can tell me what you think about it cause as always everything you say is muchly appreciated.  
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**Chapter**_** 12**_

Having an invisible mentor made trying to talk to him about what needed to be done extremely hard, not only did he constantly had to have the heat sensors on just so he could see where damn guy on but when he didn't Tommy's mischievous side came out and he'd play pranks like all hell broke loose like when he'd rewired the Velocity cycle-well he might not have seen what he'd done to the man but he knew he'd hurt the stupid black ranger. In all honesty it was a little hard to stay around the house with Tommy just wondering around so Dustin had left a lot of the cure work up to Haley while he built up his hours with Trent at the cafe.

He still remembered when Kira had dragged him up on stage to do a duet with her; he still had no idea why he had agreed to it-although the crowd seemed to like it-he had fun and all but performing on stage unless he was on his bike was just a little too daunting for him, he'd rather just have his helmet on and a ramp to jump-so much easier and a lot less pressure.

Looking up from the thick shake he was just finishing to create Dustin saw his fellow rangers walk in and gave them a happy smile before giving the drink to Trent who took it over to its table. He liked it when the others visited him at work, just as he'd liked it when Tori and Shane had visited him at Storm Chargers. He still wondered how Kelly was going, he had sort of just left her high and dry he should send her an email or ring her soon just to find out how she was going.

Looking at the face that Kira was giving him something good probably had happened considering she was beaming so brightly it looked like her face was going to be split in half. It was strange seeing how happy she was considering that for the past week and a half their mentor hadn't been visible to the naked eye and he had once again been forced to take charge-seriously he wasn't Tommy he shouldn't need to act as the mentor-and finding out he wasn't exactly a dino thunder things in the team had been a little strained.

He knew the team still accepted him and loved him it was more himself that was pulling away; he still had yet to confront his inner dino and connect with it. Apparently that was the reason that he hadn't gained his dino power-or at least that was Haley's theory-and he was in no hurry to confront the raptor that was running in his mind. He was a little afraid to if he was being perfectly honest with himself. He had been a lion: the great big cat of Africa-he had been proud loyal and strong. The fact he had transitioned into a Raptor: fast cunning pack hunter and ferocious made him a little uneasy.

"Hey guys" he said as he wiped down the counter, "What's up" he continued as they took the seats at the bar and arched an eyebrow-a little added effect that he'd learnt got him the answers he wanted without going through the whole 'nothing' nonsense.

The three rangers looked at each other and flushed when they saw the excitement on their faces so clear and out for everyone to see. It made Dustin smile and shake his head before adjusting the sleeves he's rolled up that morning on his green and black button up shirt, sometimes wearing green had its advantages-no wonder all the previous green rangers had loved the colour so much. "Can we tell you when Trent's not busy?" Kira asked biting her lip.

Dustin laughed and nodded, just by that little move he knew that while it was exciting news it was for the whole team-even if they all wanted to tell him: and by the looks of it they were dying to tell him. "Yeah sure tell me later. So what can I get you guys?" he asked clapping his hands together in a grand gesture.

After getting their orders Dustin sent the rangers off to the couches in the back so they could relax, Mesogog had stopped going so easy on them and they had been fighting monster after monster lately to the point where most days they just crashed on the huge bed in the dino lair in a big tangle of limbs. Most people would think how close the six of them were would be weird and slightly confusing but they didn't see it as anything sexual: they couldn't they just liked taking the comfort they all gave each other.

"Hey Dustin you okay?" Trent asked when he noticed the other boy's glazed expression when he walked up to him.

Unlike the other rangers who liked the green ranger because he had been a part of the team from the start Trent respected the other boy for completely different reasons. Dustin was his hero and secretly everything he hoped he could be in time: he was caring, considerate, and a little goofy but strong willed and would do anything for the ones he loved. Apart from that Trent also had a bit of hero worship for the green ranger because it had been him who had trusted him completely and in fact had gotten the others to accept him so seeing him so confused and distracted made him on edge a little.

Hearing Trent's voice snapped Dustin out of his inner musings and he turned his sunny grin on the white ranger and nodded before handing him a tray with three drink on it "Go take this to our primary coloured friends in the back would ya?" he asked giving him a wink that would have been flirtatious if he and Trent didn't think of each other as brothers.

Something that made Trent a little jealous and envious of the older ranger was how confident and out there he was with his sexuality. He didn't rub it in people's faces but he wasn't shy like he was about it. If he thought a guy was hot or cute he would tell him that, and once or twice he'd seen Dustin reach across the counter and kiss a guy-or girl: he doesn't discriminate-if he was asked. But when he'd asked his fellow employee if he was thinking of dating anytime soon the green ranger had told him he'd already left 'the one' in his past and wasn't in any rush to replace him.

"Trent!" he heard Conner say happily and felt his body flush with excitement "Cool you bought us our drinks" the red ranger said taking two of the drinks off the tray he'd been using to balance them carefully.

One thing he had yet to get the courage to do was talk to the red ranger about their relationship, he sort of wished he had evil Trent's confidence with the issue-not the crazy obsession but the confidence defiantly-because since that afternoon when he'd spent most of it lying on top of the red ranger attacking his mouth and having his neck assaulted they hadn't even talked about their feelings and every time he was around Conner he felt that fire that had sparked when Conner had saved him and his tray of drinks the day they met flare into a wild fire.

Nodding happily he placed the final drink in front of Kira and flopped down on the couch next to the girl yawning tiredly, he had never thought fighting and working at the same time would be so hard, but apparently according to Tommy Dustin had done it during his first stint as a ranger and he was continuing to do it now. Suddenly a thought hit the white ranger when he realised something that he'd been yet to be told.

"Hey guys" he started not lifting his gaze from the ceiling that he had been just gazing at emptily while the others chatted aimlessly around him. "Do any of you know what ranger team Dustin was on before this?"

The others stopped and thought for a moment before they all shared a look and shook their heads, this confused the white ranger, why wouldn't the other boy tell them about his origins: he had told him he was a ranger but he didn't think they should know about what kind of ranger he was...it was a little strange. He was about to say this when Conner shrugged crossed his arms "I don't really care. It's not really important"

Kira nodded and took a sip of her drink "Yeah if Dustin really wanted us to know he'd tell us wouldn't he" he said like it was a simple matter. "I mean if we press him it would sort of mean we don't completely trust him doesn't it" she said holding her hand up in defeat. Trent nodded and settled back to relax, he had been stupid to even think about it in the first place, Dustin was completely loyal to the dino rangers there was no reason to think he was purposely holding anything back.

An hour passed and Dustin was finally able to close the cafe down for the afternoon and walked into the back to see the rangers all eagerly awaiting his presence. Shaking his head at their expression the ex-ninja ranger sat down on the table in front of the couch and gave the primary coloured rangers an expectant look-they better have some pretty important news too make him close earlier than Haley would have liked because he maybe a ranger but his boss scared him more than Mesogog did "Okay so what is so important you dragged me from work?"

The other rangers all shared quick glances before the two boys shrugged and allowed their yellow orientated ranger to take the lead with it-Something Dustin probably would have done as well considering the girl was practically thrumming with excitement. "Right well we were at the lair with Haley before" she began making Dustin sigh.

Those kids spent an unhealthy amount of time in the dino lair he was going to have tell them to get a hobby or something. When he was a ranger-the first time-he hadn't just stuck around Ninja Ops for no reason he had been out on his bike as much as possible, he understood that Conner was never really there because he was always training but Kira and Ethan could do their hobby inside the lair and from the sounds of they did that quite often. "Yeah so what does my great boss say about our wallpaper coloured friend?" he asked yawning-he really should sleep some more what he was doing mustn't be healthy.

"She said she might have found a way for Dr O to become visible again" Kira all but squealed making Dustin laugh.

No wonder they were so excited all they had been wanting since he had been turned invisible is to look at their teachers face. They had been just as sick as he was by the ranger suit he had been forced to wear but at the same time they hadn't really wanted the man to be overwhelmed by his dino power that was supposed to help him. Giving the excited rangers a warm grin he stood up dusting himself off with a happy grin on his face.

"Well what are we waiting for, we have a mentor to see don't we?" he said moving towards the door and lowering his head to hide the grin that formed when he heard the clambering sounds of his team scrambling after him gracelessly. One thing he could say for them was that they got the job done but ninjas they weren't.

Jumping in the jeep he had been...borrowing from his mentor for the last few weeks Dustin began to drive towards his secluded home laughing and joking with his team. He couldn't help but be reminded that they were high school students when they mentioned exams and assignments, because of everything that had been happening in Reefside-e.g. Mesogog-the college had shut down for the rest of the semester leaving him with a lot of extra time, not that he was complaining, he would have died if his communicator rang in the middle of a lecture. Because of all his free time Dustin found him progressing through his Maui Thai lessons and was close on his way to mastering it, the rangers were very thankful for it because his new skills helped them immensely in battle.

Arriving at the lair Dustin leapt from the seat not even bothering with the door with a grace that made his teammates a little jealous. When their green ranger did stunts like that and showed them up so easily with what seemed like no effort at all it shocked them into reality and reminded him that this was a guy who could floor their Dr O on a good day and on a bad day could beat all four of them with no problem.

"Haley" Dustin sang out making the others laugh at his childish side, it amazed the others how someone so serious and strong on the battlefield and concerning rangering stuff could switch into a childish and goofy teenager with no problem at all. "The Calvary has arrived"

The auburn haired genius saw him and gave him an amused grin before turning to the 'empty' space beside him. Dustin smiled at the space as well and walked over to the command center and sat in 'his' chair lacing his fingers together and giving the rangers a bored look. Seriously they should have learnt by now they didn't just do things anymore, he and Haley always discussed them with Tommy, the two times they hadn't things had gotten worse instead of better. "Guys?" he drawled out "Isn't there something you could be doing with the zords?"

"They don't need to go Dustin" Haley said with a small sigh "Tommy is adamant we go through with it, he really wants to be seen again" she said he voice laced with frustration.

The green ranger frowned but nodded, he knew that Haley really couldn't persuade his mentor at all but still the fact that Haley had put his senses on edge. Something was going to go wrong he could just see it, and he wasn't talking about him and his problems but he actually was a little scared for the great Tommy Oliver. "Okay let's get this done" he said spinning around to the command center and switching on his headset.

"Activate Program Re image" he commanded his fingers flying over the keyboard as Haley helped the lair lower a strange gun looking weapon until it would be at Tommy's head level. "Charge Ray" he commanded before turning back to where Tommy would be standing surrounded by the team and fought the urged to put a stop to all this and by the looks of it Haley was fighting the same urge.

'**Ray charge to maximum output' **

Taking a shuddering breath Dustin turned back to his controls and hovered his finger over the button that would send the final command in. What if something did go wrong, Tommy had gone through so much since becoming the black ranger he didn't know if his body would be able to handle much more of this. Taking a quick glance at the team who were all brimming with excitement at the notion of seeing their mentor again he pressed the button. "Fire charged ray"

The gun fired a black and silver blast that enveloped an invisible figure and Dustin felt the nerves he had been almost frozen with slowly fading away as Tommy faded back into existence. When he was once again visible Dustin ran to his side and was about to make a snappy comment when the black ranger's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed into the green ranger's arms.

"Dr O!" Kira screamed taking a step back.

Haley didn't waste any time and immediately did a bio scan, Dustin looked down at his mentor and frowned when he saw the others eyes flickering under his closed eyelids it didn't look like his teacher was dying but more like he was...asleep. "Guys shut up!" he growled out and pulled out his cell phone "Haley take the others away from here"

"What why!" Ethan demanded but shrunk back when he was met by Dustin's fierce glare.

Holding Tommy just a little tighter Dustin dialed a number into his phone with ease "Because Ethan when the Ambulance arrives wouldn't it be a bit hard to explain the presence of four students?" He asked dryly as he moved his mentor to the actual house and out of the dino lair.

Understanding what he was trying to do Haley gathered them all up and threw them into the jeep telling them that Dustin would call them as soon as he could. Taking a small breath Dustin laid his mentor on the couch and waited for the paramedics to arrive while he ran over everything he knew about mental battles because from the looks of what was happening to his mentor that was what was happening to him at that moment in time. When he had gone through his own mental battle Sensei had said he was out for a good week and a half and when he woke up he'd felt more tired than he had going to asleep.

When they paramedics finally arrived and he'd answered all their stupid questions he and his teacher-well guardian-into the ambulance-while they sped towards the hospital where he was lead to the comatose center and an empty room where Tommy was laid on the pale sheets making him look pale and sick. Seeing his mentor laid up in bed so easily made Dustin actually freeze as the full impact of the situation actually hit home.

Gasping in shock he slid into the visitors chair and pulled out his phone in a shaking hand-when'd that happen?-and dialed Haley's number unaware that four hours had passed since Tommy had actually fainted. "Haley...they don't think he'll wake up" he sobbed out unable to tell her to come, he didn't want the rangers to see him this way, Tommy was their Dr O he was invincible he couldn't die and seeing him just lying there made it actually seem possible.

"Dustin we're on our way" Haley said calmly and Dustin just sobbed harder and laid his head on the bed sheet.

When the others saw their green ranger and how tired and emotionally drained he looked they knew it was bad, through everything Dustin had been their support he had taken over for Dr O when he had been fossilized, and had worked non-stop for them and Haley when the black ranger had been turned invisible. He had been their leader and savior more times than they could count, but the boy standing before them wasn't a strong and infallible warrior: he was just a boy scared that he was going to lose his family.

The team themselves wasn't doing too badly, they were supporting each other-although Dustin had yet to really move from Dr O's bedside-and took turns getting coffee and trying to cheer up their green ranger who looked worse than their actually mentor. It wasn't until the news report came on and declared the rangers had deserted the city that the team got to see the old Dustin flare back into life when he grabbed Conner's arm and pulled him out into the hall way and looked him levelly in the eye.

"You need to lead your team" he ordered in a dark voice. The red ranger was about to protest until his senior ranger held up a hand silencing him effectively "I can't do it Conner I'm...at this moment I'd be more of a hindrance right now"

Conner looked at Dustin and really looked and gasped when he saw just how tired the other boy looked as the weeks of failures and stress had flooded through the boy because of this one incident. When they had heard that Dustin wasn't really a Dino Thunder they had supported him as well as they could but they found that the Rapto ranger had pulled away from them. Sighing but nodding in understanding Conner straightened his shoulders and walked back into the room and ordered the rangers to follow him.

Haley left with them after telling Dustin that she's be their support from the lair while he supported them emotionally with Tommy making the tired teen chuckle softly and nod. Once they were gone he moved back into the hospital room and took a hold of Tommy's hand and laid his head on the sheet, he was just so tired of everything, he just wanted to forget everything, just wanted to forget...maybe if he rested just for a moment everything would be okay when he woke up.

Opening his eyes again Dustin was shocked to find himself in an eerie green jungle, it looked prehistoric almost like the jungles the Velciraptor used to hunt in. Stilling as the thought raced through his mind over and over Dustin's eyes scanned the jungle waiting for something to jump out at him. A strange clicking growl coming from behind him made the ninja freeze and when he turned around he came face to face with a large green raptor with black and silver speckled through its scales and almost straight away Dustin knew that this creature wouldn't hurt him: it couldn't it was his inner dino.

'_**Hello young Dustin' **_The best growled and Dustin found himself reaching out to touch the beast only to have it jump out of the way just before he could.

Frowning at the strange move Dustin followed the beast trying to touch it, but every time he got close to the beast it would jump out of the way, it soon got the point where he was following the beast at an all-out run while it ducked and weaved through the forest avoiding him like it was nothing. _**"Come back" **_he yelled hopelessly wondering why he wasn't getting tired at all.

The Raptor slowed down when the green forest began to be invaded by a strange yellow light and stopped suddenly at the edge of the jungle where it then became a golden African savannah. Dustin looked at the landscape in awe and a little fear, he knew what that place was: it was his earth mind: his yellow ranger life. _**"Why'd you bring me here?" **_he asked his dino who ducked his head and looked right into his eyes.

'_**For Closure young raptor' **_

Before he could asked why he would need closure his mouth clamped up when he saw the yellow wind ranger walking towards him and by his side was a smaller version of his lion zord. Suddenly everything made sense-him not having a dino power, not being as close to his ninja element it all made sense: he had accepted that he was a dino ranger but he had held onto his yellow ranger form to closely to really let go.

Watching as his old ranger form made its way towards him Dustin didn't notice his new ranger form wrap around him and soon the two rangers were staring at each other from behind there visors. _**'You need to let me go' **_the yellow ranger said in a sad voice.

Dustin shook his head and tried to take a step back but found himself frozen to the spot, he didn't want to let that part of him go: that part of him had been great; he had been the brave and loyal lion-the yellow wind ninja, that part of him had Hunter. _**"I can't" **_

The yellow ranger held out his hand and slowly nodded at him _**'Yes you can. Look around you, your jungle has all but destroyed the savannah. But you need to take this final step to just let go' **_his yellow double said and his voice sound slight resigned and that was when it hit Dustin.

He wasn't losing this part of him: he was evolving-just as the dinosaurs evolved into the animals we see every day, he had changed from the goof bright yellow ranger. He was the strong and childish Green Rapto ranger, he couldn't be both and that sudden realization made tears come to the others eyes and he reached out and took the yellow glove in his own Green one and gasped when he felt a strange power flowing into him. Looking over at the jungle he saw the green creeping forward until it had covered everything and now he was standing with his double and its lion in a bright green jungle.

"_**Where will you go now?" **_Dustin asked sadly

But instead of being sad or even angry his yellow double laughed and threw his arms around him in a tight hug _**'Dude I'm gonna join you' **_it laughed and Dustin gasped when he felt the man faded away much like Tommy had done when he had turned him invisible. _**'Remember dude: you are never alone' **_were the last words he heard his wind form whisper before he and the lion zord became nothing more than golden specks that faded away into nothing.

Smiling sadly Dustin turned to his raptor and saw it waiting for him happily which made his sad smile turn into a full blown grin and with a laugh he wrapped his arms around the raptors neck and pulled it into a hug. _**'Young Dustin open your eyes' **_the raptor said and when he did he saw himself standing in front of a large tree.

"_**Where am I?" **_He asked and laid a hand on the large trunk.

His inner dino didn't say anything but started to glow, Dustin was about to ask what was going on when he saw his hand sinking into the tree trunk like it was nothing. _**"My Dino Power!" **_he said excitedly turning to his raptor who nodded proudly. Dustin smiled sadly as he knew he was leaving his strange alien world but tried to slow it down when he realized what he had to do. _**"Rapto give your strength to the Brachio!" **_he screamed as he was swallowed into the tree.

The last thing he heard was his raptors roar and as he was swallowed completely Dustin knew Rapto would do as he asked. He didn't know how but he just felt better connected to the beast and knew Tommy would be awake soon.

Opening his eyes with a gasp Dustin found himself looking into the happy and proud eyes of his awake mentor "Tommy!" he shouted happily wrapping his arms around the black ranger's neck "You're awake"

The black ranger nodded and was about to say something when the news started to report on how the rangers were being thrown around like nothing. Dustin was on his feet in seconds followed by Tommy who was only a few steps behind him. Standing in the empty room the green ranger shot his mentor a smirk and smirked happily: it was good to have him back. "You ready?" he asked

"Oh Yeah" Tommy said shaking out his limbs "Let's go bring the pain"

"Dino Thunder Power up!"

"Rapto Dino Power: Unleash!"

A bright flash of green and black shone through the hospital room and when it faded the Green and Black dino rangers where standing next to each other and in a silent unison they shared a nod and jumped out the window and rushed off to save their team and if someone looked closely they would have seen the faint outline of a Brachiosaurus and a Velciraptor running alongside their respected rangers.

**yeah...please review**


	13. New Enemies Old Friends

_**Chapter 13**_

The strange feeling a person gets when they believe they know a certain person but can't place how or why they think this is one of the most annoying and nagging feelings a person is confronted with: or at least that's what Trent believed. Ever since the two young men walked into the Cybercafé while he was studying with Kira-it was one of his rare days off when Dustin was feeling extremely kind and would take both of their shifts-he had been plagued with the feeling that he knew one of them and it was irritating the hell out of him.

Asking his yellow ranger companion is he recognized the boy in navy blue he was pleased to hear that yes she too believed that she knew the boy from somewhere. The two of them looked down at their text books and then up at each other, they knew that until they found out who the guy was they wouldn't be getting much studying done, and not for the first time that morning Trent wished that Conner was with them. Despite having a genius for a father Trent had always found studying to be boring and annoying but when he studied with the red ranger he found that it was an actual bearable experience.

Although considering where he stood with the red ranger he could probably be forced to clean the whole mansion with him and it would be considered fun for him he was just that far gone. Sometimes when he had a lot of time on his hands and wasn't in danger about being caught he would lie in his bed and think about the few moments when he was evil when Conner had been his completely. Like the day in the park how the other's body had felt underneath his-hard firm and hot-how Conner had tasted and smelt.

Those types of thoughts usually left him hard and quite ticked off with himself, he had been evil at that time and yet he was just a little jealous of himself, seriously how weird was that? Sure he hadn't had any qualms about sticking his tongue down the red ranger's throat but he had been scary-he had practically stalked the red ranger and that was just a little too weird in his opinion. Sure he liked Conner-maybe secretly loved him-but he didn't want the other boy to hate him. Although considering how Conner had reacted to him that day in the park with his wandering hands and passion filled moans he didn't think their feelings were really that different.

Kira noticed how far gone Trent was and clicked her fingers in front of his face and pointed over to the strangely familiar figure and sighed shaking her head, she had just spent the last few minutes just watching him trying to figure out who the damn guy was but she just couldn't place him and it was irritating the hell out of her. She was normally good when she placed things and her memory was normally extremely good but she just couldn't place this strange: it was practically an insult.

Just before she was about to say something she felt herself blush when she saw Dustin walk into the cafe with a big grin on his face. Ever since Dr O had woken up the week earlier he had been different, the distance he had placed between the team had vanished and he had gone and changed his look: again! The green ranger smirked and gave a passerby a wink moving into the change room and gazed into the mirror there and smiled when he saw his new hair style: if he was being honest he liked this one even better than the last one.

He had gotten it re-cut into his short style but long on top but had dyed it all black and gotten gold streaked through it making it glimmer in the sunlight: it looked cool. Shrugging out of his leather jacket and hanging it up before re-adjusting his dark green button up shirt with the black dragon design so it sat just right before he walked out. When he saw the person standing at the bar: his navy blue hat pulled down low over his eyes talking to what had to be a fellow racing teammate Dustin felt his face stretch into a beaming grin.

"Well if it isn't the master racer himself" he said striding over to the two figures ignoring the shocked looks that both Trent and Kira were giving him from the couch in the back room, he hadn't seen his friend in a while and he wanted to know if he was as recognizable as before.

The young man in blue looked up at the person addressing him and felt his eyes widened when he saw who it was before ripping his hat off to actually stare at him. "No way...Dustin?" he asked laughing as the other moved out from behind the bench and the two of them shared a tight hug.

Despite being in love with his brother for a good two years Dustin would have to say that Blake Bradley was as close as a brother as he was ever going to get. The two of them shared a friendship that neither had experience and had often relied on each other to calm their persons of interest down when they themselves found them to hard to handle. When Tori was just to snappy and Dustin found himself losing control of the earth around him he would go to the tracks and let Blake deal with him just as Blake would turn to Dustin to calm Hunter down when his older brother would get in one of his moods.

"Blake Bradley: what the hell are you doing in my neck of the woods" Dustin asked as they finally pulled away. The last he had heard the navy thunder brother had been in Chicago performing in the X-games and well on his way to being the best rider in the US. "Last I heard you were on the other side of the country"

Blake laughed and nodded "Yeah I was there, but as it turns out one of the final races is out here at you're tracks: which I'm sure you've been tearing up" he said with a sly look to him that made his nerves stand on edge: a sly Blake was never a safe Blake. The navy ninja gave him an innocent look before stuffing his hands in his pockets before turning to his companion who was grinning at Dustin with a big-if slightly dopey-smile. "Hey Nick this is that freestyler I told you about: Dustin Brooks" he said before turning back to his friend who was giving him a half hearted glare "What all I told the guys was that you were a sick freestyler"

The earth ninja shook his head and let out a sigh, Blake had tried for days to get him to come on tour with Factory Blue's freestyle division: 'Blue Skies' but he hadn't done it and as it turns out the navy ninja had never let that dream go. "Blake I'm a college student like seriously" he whined crossing his arms and giving his old teammate his best kicked puppy dog look.

Hearing this Blake's smile faded a little and he waved his friend off and his expression became serious "Yeah I heard from Tor that you had quit being a ninja: what happened?" he asked in concern and Dustin sighed sadly. Yep he knew Blake was going to do this: he wasn't the known as the youngest Bradley for nothing: it was quite funny how everyone back in Blue Bay had thought of him as the third and final Bradley only a few days after the two thunder brothers had arrived.

"I just didn't want to do it anymore. I really like college dude" he explained softly and leant back against the counter "That's why I'm here: in Reefside to finish my studies"

The navy ninja made a muttering noise that sounded like a question but he didn't fully catch "Can you repeat that" Dustin asked in confusion-he really should be working but he hadn't seen Blake in like forever and he really needed to catch up with the younger Bradley brother. "I didn't catch it you were mumbling"

Instead of answering straight away Blake gave him a long measured look and bit his lip in what looked like nerves-which was totally stupid because the Bradley brothers didn't get nervous: Hunter had told him so-before looking over at Nick who was playing foosball with some random guy. "Well tomorrow is the competition and I was just wondering something" he asked slowly.

This put Dustin's nerves even more on edge then when Blake had been giving him a sly look, because a cautious thunder brother meant that something you really didn't like was about to happen "Blake come on you're starting to worry me, and we've been together for like what five minutes?" he groaned putting his head into his hands: now he remembered why he hadn't gotten in contact with the navy brother: he made him a mess of nerves.

"Well our freestyler is out for the count I was wondering if you'll stand in for him!" Blake said in a rush and took a big breath once he was done.

Dustin just openly gaped at his old teammate; Blake wanted him to do what? If he heard him correctly-and one thing he was really happy about was the fact his hearing was above average since becoming a dino ranger which meant he did hear the other racer correctly-then Blake had just asked him to compete in a professional Freestyle competition for Blue Skies and then it hit him: Blake had known he was here the whole time. How else would he have known to ask him that? Glaring at the navy ranger he punched him in the shoulder hard.

"Ow Dustin: what the hell was that for?" Blake asked rubbing his sore shoulder and giving his old friend a wounded look that affected the earth ninja in no form whatsoever.

Crossing his arms across his chest Dustin levelled his gaze at Blake who was shifted self-consciously making Dustin remember that the navy ranger hadn't ever been on the receiving end of his 'mentor glare' that Conner told him had some truth telling magic. "Blake...did Cam tell you I was in Reefside?" he asked in a plain voice not betraying what kind of mood he was in-he didn't want to scare the other boy that much: his glare should be enough.

Blake swallowed nervously and chuckled weakly, when he'd heard from the ex-green ranger that his favourite air head had moved to Reefside to finish his studies and that he'd acquired a new look he hadn't known that it actually meant that Dustin would have grown up...but hey don't blame him. "Well you see the thing is...yes" he finally said and groaned when he said it: he had promise Cam he wouldn't mention his involvement.

"Why would you even need to know where I was Blake: you knew I'd probably say no: I go to college!" Dustin groaned at Blake's thoughtlessness, he still couldn't believe he had been the airhead of the team when his teammates did stunts like this.

But when he said this the navy ranger perked up and shook his head happily "But Cam told me Reefside College has been shut down because of all the problems and attack's you've been having" he argued and then clasped his hands together in a pleading motion. "Please don't say no Dustin: Blue Skies need someone with your flare"

Glancing at the pathetic picture the younger of the two thunder brothers made Dustin sighed and groaned silently "Fine" he moaned making Blake throw his hands up in victory "But only this one event I've got...responsibilities here" he said hesitating about mentioning his new rangering duties.

Blake was either very happy or didn't really notice because he nodded happily and pulled him in for another tight hug. "Thanks' buddy you really saved us" he said before pulling back and giving him a big grin. "By the way: love the Hair"

Dustin laughed and shook his head and the two of them began to talk about what they had been doing the last few months, after asking about the other rangers who Dustin was still a little guilty about not being in touch with as much as he wanted the Green ranger found out that Hunter was currently visiting the Wind Academy for some strange Sensei exchange program, when Blake had asked what he had been doing with himself Dustin had told him he was tutoring a few high school kids who had become his close friends and in the end Dustin had scored the other ranger's free passes to the X-Games and told Blake he'd see him the next day at the van so he could get fitted out. When Blake and his friend left a few hours later Dustin couldn't stop the frown that found its way onto his face: why did he have the strangest feeling that everything was going to go wrong. Sighing Dustin shrugged and turned away from the door and found Trent and Kira giving him identical expectant looks and ran a hand through his hair sighing tiredly: he'd have to think about it later he had some explaining to do-with some censoring of course.

The next morning when he arrived at the factory blue van on his bike the team there had all thanked him over and over until he had to actually push them away from him. He really didn't do well with thanks he didn't really think what he was doing a huge thing: he was competing in a freestyle show that wasn't until two more days: pretty stupid if you asked him. When he saw Blake sitting on his bike he walked over and clasped hands with him but not before getting the glance over by Blake and several other riders.

All the looks actually made Dustin looked down at him to see it anything he was wearing was out of place but frowned when he saw his green and blue moto suit that he had been given by the wardrobe when he had turned up in his green suit was all in order-he was just glad he was able to do the show with his green detailed plates on his bike: he would've been pissed if they had changed them! So he really didn't get why he was getting all the looks.

"Ah Blake what's with the stares?" he asked softly as he leant against his own bike: he had finally gone up to a two hundred a few months earlier when he realised his one two five just wasn't allowing him to do the tricks he really wanted to.

The navy ranger chuckled and shook his head "Dustin: you're hot you are gonna get stared out" he said and slapped his friend on the shoulder making him flush bright red.

Dustin grinned and winked at a nearby racing making him gasp and actually lean too far against his bike and topple forwards. Hiding his grin behind his hand with his hand the green ranger walked over and helped the boy to his feet and dusted him off and gave him an amused grin, the boy scratched the back of his neck and gave him an awkward laugh. Dustin laughed and shook his head: the boy reminded him so much of himself before he learnt how to attract attention it was so adorable, without thinking Dustin placed a kiss on the boy's cheek and then walked back to Blake who was busy rolling on the floor laugh.

"Hey you just gonna lay there all day or gonna give me the guided tour?" he asked dryly kicking the navy ninja in the ribs trying to get him up. Seriously what the hell did he do, all he did was give the poor kid a kiss on the cheek it was innocent! Sighing and glancing back at the boy he froze when he saw the dreamy lovesick expression the young boy had taken on.

Sighing tiredly Dustin hauled his friend to his feet and began to drag him off to the jumps so that Blake could explain what the jumps are like. Suddenly he felt a lot of respect for Tori for when she had to deal with Blake and Cam when they were under the love sick spell. As it turned out a walk was all Blake needed to calm down and now he was wiping his eyes and grinning happily making Dustin shake his head but grin back as well.

"Oh man once we leave Brandon is gonna be hounding me for you details" Blake said slapping his shoulder making him laugh, he had kissed the kid on the cheek if he became obsessed because of that then he could easily say that 'Brandon' had lived a very sheltered life, when he said this to the moto-racer Blake nodded cracked his neck "Yeah we found him in Vermont, got a great riding style so we signed him up there: he's only seventeen"

Suddenly the reaction the boy had when he winked and kissed him made so much more sense, "Wow he must be good I mean he's seventeen and he's pro!" he said in awe.

The navy ninja nodded and then looked over his friend taking in the bright neon green that accented the Factory Blue signature dark blue colour, "So ah Dustin, Cam had warned me you'd taken a liking to green" he began and laughed when the boy looked down at his clothes and scratched his head laughing.

"Yeah well with a new yellow ranger running around I thought I'd stretch out my wardrobe" he said and shrugged putting Blake's worried at ease.

When he old friend shrugged and turned away and began explain how the competition would work Dustin felt himself let out a relieved breath. He had been planning to drag out some his yellow clothes for this morning so he didn't draw Blake's curiosity but when he had looked at his clothes earlier he couldn't bring himself to wear them and before he knew what he was doing he had put on his green motocross suit and was speeding his way towards the track garbed in his full green apparel-he had even re-changed his bike plates from the yellow he'd changed them too the previous night back to his now signature neon green.

It wasn't much longer until Conner, Kira and Ethan had arrived telling him Trent had some training to do with Tommy meaning he couldn't make it that afternoon, but assured him that the white ranger would be there for his own show, nodding to show his understanding Dustin introduced his new team to the navy ranger of his old team trying not to laugh when he realised just how oblivious they were to each other-but hey who cares they got along! But after watching Blake win his race with his new ranger team and the group of them were about to head off together and get something to eat when suddenly a very familiar beeping broke the navy ninja's train of thought. Hearing the communicator beep Dustin stilled and looked into Blake's eyes trying to see what could possibly be going so wrong that he would be contacted via his emergency com. That had been gifted to him when he'd left. Shaking his head at his silent question Blake gave them a very shaky excuse-he could only hope his were a lot better-before he ran off.

As Kira muttered something about his old friend being weird Dustin looked down when he heard the unison chime of all four of their morphers and suddenly Blake and his ninja related problems weren't that important anymore, he had bigger things to worry about: he had to save the world-again. Nodding to his teammates Dustin lead the way into the nearby forest and let them take hold of one of him limbs. When he had been testing out his new dino power he had learnt that he could go anywhere he wanted as long as the substance he walked through was the same he was exiting: he could also take others with him.

When he and the other dino's had found that out Ethan had complained for a good three days that he got the power of Phasing while all he got was armoured skin. Conner on the other hand had been overjoyed with his power and had challenged him to now more than five races to see who was faster: as it turns out while the red ranger could out run a train he couldn't beat someone who was teleporting practically.

"Ready?" he asked looking at his fellow rangers who all gave him thumbs up. Grinning back at them he locked his gaze with a tree a short distance away and cleared his mind tapping into his dino power, once he was sure he had a good grip on his ability he let himself envision the same type of tree that was just outside the secret entrance to the dino lair.

Without warning he leapt forward making the others run to keep a grip on him, when it looked like they were going to have a head on collision with the tree Dustin actually leapt into the air and into the bark of the tree and for a split second the four of them saw a flash of bright green before they landed on the ground outside the lair while Dustin landed on his feet like a graceful cat. Conner groaned into the dirt beneath him making Dustin laugh and shake his head, it always amused him when the other rangers complained that his way of travelling made them disoriented he thought it was cool: it was like they were suspended in space for a split second before they were thrown out of the tree-although he had yet to face plant like his teammates.

Turning to the entrance Dustin lifted his communicator to his mouth "Open up Tommy I bought the brood" he said amusement clear in his voice as he spotted Kira using a tree to pull herself to her feet while holding a hand to her head.

When the secret door opened without his mentor making any snappy comeback about how he shouldn't phase with the 'kids' Dustin knew something big was about to happen and almost immediately his goofy demeanour faded and he stalked through the Zord bay and pass the Raptors who all gave him chirps of recognition before turning back to what they had been doing until he reached the command centre where Tommy had a dark expression on his face while Trent was trying to do a impression of the white ranger-without actually morphing. Haley sat with her back to the Command centre biting her lip.

The other rangers weren't far behind and once they had all gathered together Dustin felt his arms cross over his chest and a glare settled on his features. It wasn't even his 'I'm waiting' glare it was his 'tell me what's wrong before I beat it out of you' glare. The one thing that not even Tommy was immune too. "Tommy, what's wrong" he said before the black ranger could open his mouth "And don't give me that crap about it's not that big a deal because I can tell it's big"

Tommy sighed and nodded before rubbing his forehead "You can't freak out okay" he said pointedly at him before he stepped aside making Dustin confused, what would freak him out: he had seen a lot-not as much as his mentor mind you-and it took something big to make him freak out.

Although when Dustin saw what was happening on the screen in front of him he felt ice creep into his veins and freeze him where he was standing. He had been expecting a monster or Mesogog at the worst but not this: he hadn't been expecting to see a Morphed red and blue wind ninja rangers with the Crimson Thunder Ninja striding through Reefside as kelzacks raged around them destroying everything in their path. Now he understood why Tommy had warned him: because he could stand against any monster and not blink an eye, he could fight Zeltrax with ease and probably stare down Mesogog but his one weakness, the one thing that could make him second guess himself: was his old team.

"Evil rangers?" Kira gasped rushing past him to get a better look at the two man team when suddenly it hit her that the duo were missing a colour "I thought we were finished with that!" she moaned and then crossed her arms "And anyway they like totally cheated they don't even have a yellow but have two reds!"

"One's Crimson" Dustin heard himself saying before he could stop himself and winced when the others turned and gave him a slightly confused and strange look.

Dustin swallowed and was about to explain himself when Tommy beat him to the punch-something he was very thankful because he didn't really think he could manage more than a squeak at that point in time "Kira I don't really think that the choice of colours they have is that important do you?" he asked softly lying a hand on Dustin's shoulder squeezing it gently for a moment. "Something has made them stray from the side of good and it's our duties as rangers to bring them back and help them see the light"

"Dr O's right we don't know these guys, but if they were rangers before then they have to have some good in them" Conner said looking at Kira and Ethan who were nodding in agreement, they at least could say they had some

The black ranger smiled at his leader and nodded proudly-sometimes it did pay to have a strong red ranger-before he turned to Trent and Dustin "You two stay with me. I don't like what's going on and if the others need back up then I have two wild cards" he said seriously and looked straight conveying a silent message to his frightened student who nodded sadly in understanding.

The others didn't seem to notice their silent conversation because within moments the original dino thunder rangers were morphed and running out the doors why Dustin took his place next to Haley at the command centre and just stared at the froze image of Tori and her dark visor that hid her expression from his sight. He had always liked seeing the female blue ranger in morph-the two of them had felt honoured being the first female blue and male yellow rangers –because when they were morphed together it made them feel different to the other ranger teams that had come before them: made them feel special, But looking into the dark emotionless visor that hid Tori's face from sight at that moment made him feel sad instead of proud.

Watching the fight between the three dino thunders and the two wind ninja ranger and the single Thunder Ranger had been very hard for Dustin. It had reminded him a lot of how Hunter and Blake used to kick them around like they were nothing despite, having an extra member compared to them-that is until he had been able to learn a few of their moves from the Thunder style and create a good earth defence-because despite being out number Shane and Tori were past rangers and ninja masters which meant skill wise they walked all over what little fighting skill the dino's held, of course the big differences to his situation and his new teams was that they had to deal with the Thunder and Wind Ninja styles and had no way to defend against them what with no past training to use against the three masters but every time he found himself reaching for his morpher he found that he literally couldn't bring himself to say the words to morph.

It wasn't just because it was his past team: but it more so that he didn't want to fight the two wind ninja and Thunder ninja because he didn't know if he could beat them. Despite being the only one who could stand up against Hunter for more than two minutes in battle when he was evil- he also didn't have the same control over his element he used to, sure he had a earth base Dino power that reminded him of burying himself in the ground with his earth ninja moves but going up against two wing ninja masters and a fully trained and probably ruthless thunder ninja master while he wasn't at top form was a little daunting.

When the others dragged themselves into the lair he immediately began tending to Conner who had been viciously kicked around by Shane who had shown his successor no mercy dealing vicious combos that the Tyranno ranger had no hope of defending. He knew Ethan was feeling a little put out considering he not only gotten beaten by his predecessor but was also beaten by a girl, Kira was the worst out of all the ranger being the focus of Hunter's attacks and Dustin couldn't hide his wince when he had first seen her, Luckily Haley and Dr O had taken her straight away to get patched up while Trent was busy helping him out by doing Ethan's first aid while he looked after the red ranger. Sighing once he was finished Dustin gathered up all his stuff and handed it to Tommy who had just finished up with Kira: it was time to come clean about everything.

"Guys sit down" he ordered shooting a glance to Trent making the white ranger sit down as well "I have to tell you some stuff" he said and maybe it was just his imagination but at that moment his voice sounded ten times older than he actually was.

The rangers sat down and frowned in confusion as they heard Dustin's tone, it must have been important for him to sound so grave so they sat and waited in silence for the older ranger to start talking because watching him sit in his command centre chair so dejected and lost the other rangers knew pushing their green member would be a bad thing. "The reason you were beaten so easily today is because you opponents weren't just ex-rangers" he said rubbing his forehead.

"Okay...what were they?" Ethan asked rubbing his shoulder where the blue ranger had used him to flip before drop kicking him in his shoulder all the while making it look like his own attacks were less effectively than a child's "Because the moves they had were...well they outclassed everything we could do"

"Because they're ninja masters" Dustin said simply staring at his hands "Two of them were Wind Ninja Masters, they were the Red and Blue Rangers" he continued running a hand through his hair messing up his already tangled locks from the amount of times he had ran a hand through his black mop he call hair. "I know them because I was the Earth Ninja Master at the same academy"

Conner gasped and dropped his helmet and his eyes lit up like he had figured something up "That's how I recognised some of the moves-I've seen you perform them although yours were a little bit better" he said as an afterthought.

"But what about the guy that thrashed me: his suit was different and his attacks a lot different, kinda like yours but…different" she moaned as she rubbed her bruised shoulder that she had been reassured hadn't been dislocated but would probably ache for a long time to come.

Sighing at her question Dustin rubbed the back of his neck he nodded "He is from a different Ninja Academy known as the Thunder Ninja Academy and he's not just any Master" he said and then winced when he saw the hope shining through in their eyes "He's the Head Master at his Academy" suddenly that light that had been in his new teams eyes was dimmed and all of their faces became clouded in shock and horror.

Conner seemed to recover first and balled his hands into fists and looked up at the Green ranger with scared eyes-something Dustin knew was a rarity on all Red rangers. "You know them then…you were a Ninja Master to"

Nodding in agreement Dustin motioned for the red ranger to be quiet so he could continue "As you all know I was an ex-ranger from a past team...those three rangers you face this morning were the red and blue trio teammates and the Crimson was my Thunder ranger" he said sadly "I was the Yellow Ninja Storm ranger" he admitted unable to look at his team who were probably all give him stares of equal shock. "When Tommy started to create the ranger legacy video and made sure that he left out a lot about me and my involvement simply because I wanted to tell you about it myself"

Finally plucking up the courage to face his teammates he saw the Conner was giving him a warm and open stare that actually made some of the guilt he had been carrying since he had refused to tell the four of the young rangers just what team he was a part of. "Alright then...tell us" the red ranger said and when Dustin looked around he saw that the other rangers were all nodding in agreement and giving him looks of anticipation.

Dustin felt his eyes well up with tears as he realised his team didn't care that he hadn't told them, they just wanted to know what they as a group were going up against. Glancing up at Tommy he saw what he was sure was his own mirrored proud smile looking at the team in front of him, smiling and nodding Dustin took a deep breath "Okay well about a year ago..."


	14. Old verses New

_**Chapter 14**_

The worst thing about telling the dino thunders about his involvement with the ninja storm rangers was that Dustin found that the four of them had taken the attitude that they had to hold back in their battles with them: and the problem was that the four of them could hardly fight against Tori and Shane and defiantly not against Hunter who seemed out for blood more so than the other two when they were going at full throttle so if the four of them held back Dustin knew his old team would tear the four of them apart. This was why Dustin sent them home to sleep why he thought up a way to help the primary rangers-and sometimes Trent- in their battle and a way to get his old friends back to normal.

But when he had run out of ideas short of running head long into battle and beating the damn spell out of them Dustin had tried the one thing he had been avoiding from the start: He contacted Cam. When the green ranger started yelling at him as soon as his face came into screen about how his rangers needed more training and how he wasn't doing a good job as a mentor Dustin knew that Cam had figured out something was wrong. While the call didn't give him any answers on how to change the three ninja masters back to their old selves he did learn that the annoying stubborn and resilient Lothor had somehow climbed his way out of the Abyss of Evil and had bewitched the three of them with evil morphers: something the samurai was trying to fix.

Hunter had not originally been a target but had ended up being enchanted during his visit to the Wind Academy and was chosen in Dustin's place considering that Lothor had not been aware at the time that Dustin had left his place as a Sensei. Learning that bit of information had been very hard for Dustin to hear because it made the guilt that was already welling up in him because of Tori and Shane double in size and weigh even heavily on his shoulder: perfect right.

After telling Tommy the news the black ranger had ordered him to stay away from the battle field why his three old teammates were under the spell. He had said that if Lothor managed to somehow infect him then not only would their new team have to deal with three fully and highly trained ninja masters who had been past rangers but would have to go up against a Ninja master with the power and influence of a dino gem: a very dangerous combination. Dustin had agreed but a little hesitantly: he didn't know why the three of them would attack him-he was positive that upon revealing himself to them that Hunter wouldn't hurt him at the very least-he was their Dustin still: well at least in their eyes-he wasn't another ranger and they probably would try to talk him into being with them instead.

But at the same time: the results would still be the same: he would end up on Lothor's side and now he was versed in different forms of martial arts-thank you Tommy-there would be no way in hell that the dino thunders would be able to stand a chance against them, on a normal day they would find it tough but going up against someone who had trained you but was hell bent on destroying you...yeah it wouldn't end pretty. So he had of course promised.

Dustin sighed and looked around the command centre tiredly, he had spent the night down there unable to bring himself to go back to the motorcross track and pick up his bike. He knew it was in safe hands: it was in the professional hands of the Blue Skies which meant that it would probably be in better hands at that moment in time than if it was in his own possession. Because of the recent events Haley had pulled him off work and he had been on command centre duty and ever since he had woken up three hours earlier he had been stuck down in the lab he'd help build with only the zords and the raptors for company.

After putting himself into a semi-meditative state Dustin was just about to fall asleep when the comm. Line alarm started to ring making him jump about a foot in the air. "Identify caller!" he commanded as he tried to calm his frazzled nerves: one thing he had always hated about the damn lair was that the alarms were just too damn loud and they came out of bloody nowhere.

'**Caller identified as White Drago Ranger: Trent Fernandez'**

The green ranger frowned and crossed his arms, why the hell would Trent be contacting him: Haley hated it when they skipped out of their work so that they could call someone: be it ranger related or not. "Open Comm. Line" he ordered and smiled when the computer did so with a happy chime. 'Trent what the hell is going on for you to call me while you're in the middle of a shift? You and I both know how Haley is"

When Trent finally spoke Dustin frown at the frantic almost hysterical edge to it _**'Dustin something really bad has happen and I'm talking worse than Mesogog bad" **_the white ranger said and Dustin could just imagine the artist wringing his hands nervously-something that the green ranger usually found adorable but at that moment in time it probably wasn't.

"Trent" he said slowly, if he was going to get anything from the boy at all he knew the white ranger was going to have to be calm down enough so that he could understand him. "Calm down. Now tell me what has happened I'm sure it's not that bad" he reasoned as he remembered all the times that Trent had said something was really bad only for it to be really easy to work through and deal with.

"_**Really...so your three ninja buddies challenging our dino's to a rematch is nothing?" **_Trent said in a slightly hopeful voice and Dustin wanted to groan: why was the boy being so damn difficult that day, although he probably had nothing to worry about he knew his new rangers weren't stupid enough to actually accept. _**"And if they accepted and left with them a few minutes ago: that's okay right?" **_

This time instead of just groaning Dustin let his head slam on the command centre and began to yell at Trent for not being able to at least hold back Conner until he learnt that Shane had insulted the white ranger making the red ranger leap to his defence. Dustin sighed: he wasn't surprise that Conner accepted after that, the red ranger was very protective of his white comrade and lately Kira and Ethan had been following Conner's lead more and more often which would explain why they also accepted, he just couldn't understand why Tori and Shane would put forth the challenge-could totally understand Hunter doing so the guy had always been extremely competitive- in the first place unless they thought that the other three weren't fit to be rangers.

Dustin froze and stilled in his searching for the rangers, that was it: whether they were evil or not his three friends would have wanted to test their successors and find out if they were fit for the role and while he was sure his normal teammates would love the dino thunders Lothor's wind and Thunder ninjas only wanted one thing: power, and up against the three ninja masters his rangers probably would have looked like hopeless rookies-probably worse than when he Tori and Shane had been tested before they had been rangers themselves. This meant that his old teammates would probably be looking for a way to get rid of them...permanently so they could take their place as the power rangers once again until they were able to find their own choices. Hunter probably was focusing on Tori as well on some strange mission to see if the Dino Yellow lived up to his skill level and was a good enough successor simply because he wasn't there to do it himself.

"Command: search and locate Rangers Tyranno, Ptera and Tricera" he ordered and bit his lip as the command centre ran through the entire grid system of Reefside for his three lost and probably in danger teammates.

'_**Ranger's located' **_

Dustin let out a sigh of relief before looking up at the moniter right in front of him "Bring up visual" he asked and then waited a few seconds for the technology to find a good way to watch his Ranger. When it found one Dustin felt his blood go cold as he watched Tori take out Ethan with a water blast and Shane play around with Conner who were trying to use their dino powers to counter both Shane's air mastery and ninja streaks. Glancing over to where Kira was he couldn't hold back his gasp when he saw Hunter slam her into the ground cracking the ground beneath her a superior smirk on his face that reminded the green ranger too much of the time where Hunter had been working for Lothor the first time he had been a ranger.

When Shane and Hunter threw his two friends to the floor next to a wet and cowering Ethan who was trying to scramble away from Tori who were smirking down at him and then began to mock them telling them how stripping their powers while in morph was going to be an enjoyable event: Dustin knew he had to disobey Tommy. He had to save the three dino rangers old friends be damn he couldn't stand by and just watch what the three ninja masters were doing: it was just who he was. Stepping away from the command centre Dustin jumped up and envisioned the quarry the rangers had been fighting in; the ground especially and when he was supposed to hit the ground he felt himself go straight through it.

A flash of green later Dustin felt his feet land on solid ground and he was suddenly staring into the shocked eyes of his fellow ninja masters. Glancing back at the dino thunder he saw just how hurt the three of them were and felt the guilt of just watching them flood through his entire frame: he can't believe he actually let that happen: he had just sat back and let his old friends tear them apart all because he was afraid: well not anymore.

"Dustin man it's good to see you" Shane said happily although the ex-yellow ranger could hear a darker quality in the others voice: one that was alien and shouldn't be there something Lothor had put there and the thing he intended to beat out of the air master.

Tori snorted and smirked before giving him a hopeful look "Master Lothor gave us our Ranger powers back and now we can crush these posers" she said and if Dustin didn't know the water ranger as well as he actually did he would have thought that she was actually excited about it, but when he listened very closely to what she was saying she could almost hear the fakeness to it and he knew that Tori didn't want to do this but the thing controlling her did.

Looking over at Hunter the Rapto ranger had to swallow at the lust and burning desire he saw in the crimson ranger's eyes. The normally beautiful blue crystal clear eyes had darkened to a deep blue and the pupil had dilated so that only a tiny ring of the darken blue encircled the black. "Dustin" he drawled out in such a sexy way that was full of promises that it made Dustin's legs goes weak for a moment until he was able to bring himself back into reality.

Sighing the green ranger shook his head-trying to shake away the wave of desire and want Hunter's single word had filled him with- and tapped his green morpher "Sorry guys but I'm not here to join you" he said sadly and readied himself just as Tori and Shane tensed and their eyes narrowed, while Hunter's eyes became hardened and sparked with a determined glint that made Dustin think that maybe he should have listened to his mentor a little closer.

"Oh yeah and what are you here for" Shane snapped out readying his own morpher.

The earth ninja gave his three old friends looks full of sorrow and looked down at the Rapto morpher on his wrist "It's obvious isn't it: I'm the one who's gonna stop you!" he snarled out as his eyes flashed from human to dino momentarily as his inner dino roared it's challenge "You got a problem with my little ones: you deal with me"

Sighing almost as if they were disappointed Dustin watched as the three ninja masters shared a quick look before they morphed in a very familiar morphing sequence: hell he made the damn thing up it should be damn familiar "Ninja storm Ranger form ha!"

Tori placed a hand on Hunter's shoulder and pointed at Dustin "You got him right?" she asked making Dustin tense: what did she mean by that?

The Crimson ranger nodded and his gaze never leaving Dustin's still unmorphed form and crossed his arms striking his signature pose "Yeah don't worry we'll have our little buddy back in no time" he said and suddenly everything made sense to Dustin-Hunter was his replacement which meant Lothor had probably given Hunter the ability to turn the other Ninja Storm Rangers evil as well.

Well that wasn't going to let that happen to him and he wasn't going to let him hurt Cam or Blake who he was sure the three of them would track down next, so striking a cocky smile Dustin nodded and clapped almost as if he was congratulating them before brandishing his new morpher and flashing the two newly morphed rangers. "Cute I remember doing that once upon a time" he mocked "But watch this: Rapto Dino Power: Unleash!"

Taking a deep breath as the connection with his inner dino fell into place Dustin accepted the morph and when he opened his eyes he was facing his three on edge teammates and the motioned for him them to attack without saying a word. The only reason he didn't bother saying anything was that there were no words needed in this battle, what could they say to each other-he had betrayed them, he had left them he knew all of this he had worked through all of those problems and had moved passed them to the point where he was a better ranger because of them.

As they battled Dustin couldn't help but notice that despite his earlier fears of not being able to take his two old friends because of their continuation at the academy he was being stupid: he was doing well in fact he was winning he couldn't help but think as he kicked Tori into the metal railing and flipped just in time to dodge Shane's drop kick. He knew what they were going to do because he knew their styles and if he had just stayed with the same old ninja training things probably would be going bad for him but the thing was he hadn't: he'd gone off and trained in different fighting styles which made his moves unpredictable and hard to anticipate.

He of course had trouble with Hunter, it would be a miracle if he didn't but at the same time he was fighting to hurt him and push them back while Hunter seemed to be trying to grab him slamming him to the ground trying to pin him with his feet and arms which he just slipped out of almost as if the two of them were both on the same time and the two of them were just sparring together at Ninja Ops-only thing different about the two situations was that there was no cute banter or flirting between the two of them.

Landing in front of his fellow rangers who were huddled together and watching their senior ranger deal with the three that had practically destroyed them like they were rookies-like them-they felt suddenly more awed by Dustin then they had ever felt before. Glancing back at them Dustin forgot about the pain in his shoulder that Hunter had dislocated and quickly snapped it back into place biting out a groan before slowly and painfully pulling out his two blades and spun them around dangerously pointing them at each Tori and Shane who were on the edges of the trio and had to rein in his emotions as he looked at them. He had to do this he couldn't let his memories get in the way.

But before he could actually attack he heard Blake's voice ring out "Wait!" swinging around and breaking the morph the same time as Tori and Shane-it had become automatic when one of their own were around just in time to see Blake rushing towards him with Cam only a few steps behind him.

Dustin felt the bile rise in his throat as he heard Blake tell them that they would be fighting them instead of helping him. He could take Shane, he could take Tori and hell he was been able to take on Hunter on top of those two but there was no way he could fight the entire ninja storm team by himself he just wasn't that good. When he locked gazes with the samurai ninja he glared at him poisonously until he saw his old teammate give him a wink making him grin: he knew Cam could never work with Lothor again. Turning to face his new team who were protesting loudly he gave them a quick wink shutting them up immediately.

"Here you don't have these powers yet" Cam bragged and Dustin crossed his arms looking confident as Tori and Shane slide the new morphers on while Hunter just looked at his brother who nodded at him encouragingly prompting the crimson ranger to follow his teammates actions and slide the morphers on.

When the three enchanted ninja's tried to activate their 'new' morphers whatever evil that had been coursing through their veins at that point in time was flushed from their systems making them scream in pain and kneel to the floor from the strain it had on their bodies. Before he what he was doing Dustin was by his old teammate's sides helping them to their feet, it was a knee jerk reaction for him, he still hadn't lost that engrained reaction to rush to his teammates sides like he had a year ago but when he had Shane to his feet and looked over to his own team who were standing all alone looking miserable and lost he knew he couldn't do this not to them so taking a big breath he took a step away from them and a step closer to the dino thunders.

This move didn't go unnoticed by the crimson thunder ninja who while had pulled himself to his own feet while never taking his gaze from Dustin turned his worried gaze to Tori-who mind you was in the middle a huge hug from Blake-trying to see if she knew what was really going on and only got a soft shake of her head in return. Quickly glancing back to Dustin the crimson ranger was quick to lock gazes with the ex-earth ninja and as their eyes connected: blue to brown Dustin felt his breath stutter for just a second, it was Hunter his crimson ninja who he was fallen in love with a left with only a letter for closure not some evil Lothor enchanted warrior and knowing this while looking into his eyes once more after almost a full year of leaving him it was like he had never gone anywhere to start with because almost as soon as their eyes touched the same feelings for his fellow ranger he had been trying to bury and move on from flooded to the surface filling his body with an ever present burning.

Cam looked over and saw the staring contest between the two rangers and sighed taking it upon himself to break whatever spell the two of them had over each other. "Guys this really isn't the best place for this: Lothor could come back" he said once he knew that his fellow Sensei's weren't holding any traces of evil in them anymore.

"Cam's right" Dustin nodded and looked back at his rangers who were beaming at him thankfully and just a little tiredly not that he blamed them he was a little winded from going all out with the three ninja masters. "This isn't the place"

Conner looked at Kira and Ethan and jerked his head to Dustin making them moan and Dustin to start laughing his head off-much to the Ninja Storm ranger's confusion...well all except Cam. "Come on Phasing isn't that bad" he said holding his hand out for Kira to take. "It's like jumping then a flash and boom you are where you need to be" he said happily making the yellow ranger pause and then smile.

"Ah what are you doing?" Hunter asked as the dino thunders all gathered around the ex-earth ninja with at least one hand on Dustin's body, he was all for connection and all but hadn't they all just agreed to leave this place?

The newer rangers looked at each other in confusion but then realised just how stupid they probably looked to the ninja storm rangers and took their hands off their green ranger with a slightly guilty look on their face. Dustin rolled his eyes and smiled at his old team holding his arms open to them "Well you wanna get to the lair quickly right?"

"Dude I think all that hair gel might have affected his brain cells" Shane said laughing "Yeah dude we did just agree on that" he commented as he gave his old friend a warm look: he knew now wasn't the time to catch up that could happen later: when they were safe.

Hearing this the dino thunders giggled a little and shook their heads making the four ninja storm rangers to give each other confused looks and Cam to sigh tiredly and stride over to Dustin and place a hand on his shoulder "You better not get me lost somewhere in the earth Dustin" he warned in annoyance as the Tyranno, Tricera and Ptera rangers all laid a hand on his back.

Dustin smiled and winked at his fellow green ranger and then looked over at the ninja storm rangers and beamed at them "trust me: I'll get us to the base faster than any ninja streak would" he said in a happy tone.

He didn't know if it was what he said or how he said but seconds later Tori was at his other side taking his hand while Shane had a hold on his shoulder Blake ended up laying a hand on his ribs and Hunter: god the crimson ninja had to just place his hand over his heart and try to stare right into his eyes: yeah well he couldn't do that at the moment he had to focus on phasing. Rolling his eyes under his eyelids Dustin focused on the ground beneath him and then the floor of the dino lair and smirked when he felt his feet sinking into the ground. He knew that his 'passengers' were freaking out-well the ninja storm ones were-but just like the first time he'd done this with Trent he also knew that they wouldn't be able to break away anytime soon.

Once they were completely swallowed by the ground a bright flash of green passed them and then like magic Dustin felt the floor beneath his felt and knelt into a neat crouch as the full impact hit the group sending everyone but surprisingly Conner tumbling to the floor in waves of dizziness. Standing up and sharing a grin with his red ranger Dustin laughed as he saw Tori using Blake as a support despite the fact the Navy ninja wasn't doing much better than her. Shane was currently resting his head on the floor moaning about the room spinning while Cam just gasped for air a step away from them. Hunter looked like he was going to be sick and if he had been a cartoon Dustin was sure he'd have the swirly eyes going on.

But just as he was about to say that he felt a presence behind him and winced when he realised just who that person could be: Tommy "So Dustin what did I tell you about going into battle after I told you not to?" his mentor asked in a light airy voice and from hearing that Dustin knew he was in trouble.

Deciding to try and fake his way out of it anyway the green ranger turned around with a beaming smile on his face and shrugged "Dunno I was too busy rushing into battle to hear what you were saying" he said happily, Tommy stared at his prodigy for a moment trying to see if lecturing the Rapto ranger was worth it but gave up on the idea only a few moments later whe he realised that no it wasn't worth the effort because no doubt the green ranger would disobey him again anyway.

Seeing the anger fade from his mentor's eyes and be replaced with amusement made Dustin's joy rise and then with a big grin on his face he turned back to his old team who were standing across from his new complete team: when the hell did Trent arrive? He thought but shook the thought off and went to stand in the middle of the two ranger teams and gave Shane a big smile.

"Shane I'd like to meet the new red ranger" he said slowly before turning to Conner who was smiling at his predecessor with a big grin "Shane this is Conner McKnight Dino Thunder Red ranger" the air master smiled and fist bumped with his fellow red and seeing that everything was okay he moved over to Tori who was giving Ethan an amused look.

Frowning in confusion he turned to see why and saw his Tricera ranger blushing to the roots of his hair and couldn't stop the chuckle the escaped him "Tori meet Ethan James the Dino Thunder Blue Ranger" he said happily and Tori reached forward and pulled him into a huge hug making Ethan make a strangled noise.

Laughing at Tori's antics Dustin went to stand by the other three members of his team who were standing in front of Hunter Cam and Blake who were giving them all searching glances "I know that none of these guys are you colours but I thought I could introduce you to them anyway" he explained getting three nods before he continued "Okay well Blake I'd like you to me _my _successor: Kira Ford Dino Thunder Yellow Ranger" he said proudly making the young girl blush.

"Who's this?" Hunter asked pointing to Trent who had his hands stuffed in his jeans "Reminds me of Blake and myself" he commented and Dustin walked over and laid a comforting hand on Trent's shoulder calming his nerves.

"Hunter this is Trent Fernandez The Dino Thunder White Ranger: and for your information he had a slight problem with an evil alter ego before joining us" he said and smiled when he watched the light of understanding dawn in the crimson ranger's eyes and when he looked back at Trent, Dustin could see the respect Hunter know felt for the boy shinning through.

When he stepped up to Tommy he turned to the whole group and beamed happily "And this is our mentor and the greatest ranger who ever lived: Tommy Oliver: the Black Dino Thunder Ranger" he said clapping his hands as if to signal the end of the introductions even as Tori crossed her arms and gave him a very amused look that made his nerves stand on end: he didn't like it when she looked at him like that. Bad things happened to him when he saw that look on her face. "Ah Tori?" he asked swallowing nervously.

The water master shrugged and then walked over to him throwing and arm around his shoulders before turning back to both teams "Oh nothing it's just I think you might have forgot someone in your little roll-call: a sixth member perhaps" when she said this Dustin laughed nervously and swallowed to wet his suddenly dry throat

"Yeah he was awesome all green and dino infused" Hunter added helpfully his grin turned impish in a way that spoke of the childish persona that he had hidden under all his dark and brooding stuff deep inside him.

Laughing and nodding Dustin walked up to Cam and held his hand out giving the samurai and amused look he returned "Hi cam I'm Dustin Brooks. I'm you're successor: the Green Dino Thunder ranger" he said making Tori beam and throw herself on his back laughing.

As his old team and new team milled around him asking him questions and telling their stories with the other rangers Dustin looked up and met Hunter's proud and warm eyes. Looking into the beautiful warm eyes and seeing the acceptance there Dustin felt a smile worm it's way on his face and he held his hand out for the boy he loved to take, because in that moment nothing mattered: not Lothor, not Mesogog nothing because in that moment he knew that the Ninja storm rangers accepted the fact he was a new ranger.

The worst thing about battling Lothor and Mesogog was that both evil bad guys seemed intent on trying to catch him: or at least that was what Dustin had gathered as he got ready to perform for Blue Skies. Only hours ago he had fought side by side with his old team but not as the yellow ninja storm ranger-although he had been offered by Cam to put the yellow back on-against the two evil forces and had once again put Lothor where he belonged and was now getting ready to ride in a professional freestyle competition.

One thing he hadn't minded about the team up was fighting with Hunter again, when the group of them had paired off he had found himself next to the crimson ninja and almost like they had never stopped the two of them had fallen into an easy sync that he had found hard to get with the dino thunders because it was one thing to fight against the crimson ranger but to fight with him was like a type of dance that you either had or didn't-think of Shane for instance he couldn't fight alongside Hunter no matter how hard he tried. But when the battle was over and he had looked at Hunter he had found him staring straight at him with warm almost if he dare thought it: loving eyes and he had instantly been reminded of the letter he had wrote and had crawled off to get ready in secret.

How was he supposed to face the crimson ranger again when he knew his true feelings, that he hadn't liked Hunter as 'just a friend' for a long time if ever which meant that the other probably wanted to talk to him about it. But right before a competition: not a good idea, he actually did better when something was annoying him-like this thing with Hunter for example-as it made his body do what it needed to do without his mind getting confused.

"**Now riding for Blue Skies: Dustin Brooks"**

Taking a deep breath Dustin threw his arms up and played it up for the crowd: he had a job to do and he'd be damn if he let Blake down. Kicking the engine into gear Dustin let his mind clear and then shot off down the first ramp and towards the jump, he just had to do well: he didn't have to win it did he.

Of course when he was holding the trophy two hours later at the Factory Blue after party it did feel good even with the other Blue Skies freestyles bragging about how good he was and hanging all over him drunk. He started to look for an escape route when suddenly Hunter appeared and wrapped an arm around his shoulders giving the gathered riders his charming grin that never failed to turn Dustin's knees to jelly. "Hey boys gotta borrow my buddy here" he said and led Dustin away before they could protest.

Taking a deep breath of relief Dustin let Hunter lead him outside into the night air and jumped on a large metal case of some kind so he could look at the stars without standing up-because dude that made him tired! "Thank you" he said suddenly breaking the silence that had suddenly fallen between the two of them "I don't think I could have dealt with that for much longer"

Hunter laughed and nodded "I guess I should be thanking you for snapping me out of the spell" he said kindly trying not to make the situation awkward.

"Well really it was Blake and Cam" Dustin said cheekily and linked his hands behind his back "But I'll take the credit any way" he said in such a way that was just purely Dustin that it made Hunter shake his head fondly.

The crimson ranger nodded in understanding and then began to watch Dustin for a moment and took in just how much the other boy had changed since he'd left Blue bay. "You're really different you know that" he said making Dustin look over him and arch an eye brow in his directions, dude he wore green all the time and cut his hair-yeah he would look different.

Shaking his head in amusement Hunter pulled himself to sit next to Dustin so that their sides were touching "Not just how you look either" he said not looking at the boy beside him-his self control wasn't that good thank you very much "The way you hold yourself it's different: more mature" he said sadly "You grew up"

"I had too" Dustin said looking down at his hands "I had others relying on me to have the answers. When Tommy was in a bit of trouble I was the senior ranger. I was the one the rookies looked to despite me only having a year under my belt they looked to me to guide them: I became a mentor" finally saying that made Dustin actually pause: he had always believed he was the same old Dustin he had always been but now that Hunter had gotten him to explain what had happened to him throughout this past year he finally realised he was never going to be the yellow Dustin again-not completely.

Hunter looked down at Dustin and cupped his chin in his palm turning his face to look into his own "We need to talk" he whispered and saw Dustin swallow nervously "About your letter" and like every other time he mention the wore slip of paper he could feel the letter burning against his inner pocket of his dress shirt.

The green ranger sighed and nodded "I didn't just write that because I thought I'd never see you again" he said his voice cracking "I really do love you. I think I always will but I'm trying to move on" really why was he about to cry he was finally able to talk to the damn guy about his stupid move and here he was about to cry like a baby: seriously!

"Really?"

Dustin ignored the tense hesitant way Hunter said this and nodded "Yes but you make it so damn hard! You are always there at the back of my mind and no matter how many times I try I can't do it" he said and this time he was really fighting back the tears, because he had tried, he'd had so many offers from both girls and other guys but he couldn't actually bring himself to go on the dates because every time he was going to Hunter sprang to the front of his mind and he suddenly felt like he was doing something wrong and would cancel.

A moment passed and suddenly he was being pulled into Hunter's lap much to his utter shock and surprise "I'm glad" Hunter whispered against his neck placing a kiss on the skin of his neck "Because I came out here with you to tell you something" he said looking up to connect their eyes together his gaze burning with love and desire "I love you too"

The Green ranger gasped when he heard the words and then surged forward and kissed Hunter deeply and then everything clicked, he didn't think about tomorrow or what he was going to do when hunter left all he thought about was that Hunter loved him, the boy he'd loved for so long loved him and wanted to be with him: and that was all that mattered. Knowing this he surged forward and kissed the other boy as passionately as he could: now he had him he wasn't letting the Crimson ninja go.

**Yep that was my team up version: what'd ya all think?  
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